Oliver's Therapy Fund

For my birthday last year I raised £200 for the stroke association. This year again I ask that you don't pay for cards and gifts, and instead if you wish to, please donate.This year I want to raise awareness of strokes further by talking about our story.We are quite private people and only close family and friends know about our journey so far, however we feel it is important to share and raise awareness that anyone can have a stroke at any age, even babies and children. When deciding to have a baby we didn't know this could ever happen, but 'there are over 400 childhood strokes a year in the UK, affecting babies, children and young people' (Stroke Association). Our son Oliver had a stroke during or shortly after birth, after a textbook pregnancy. It occured on the left of his brain, effecting the right side of his body. He now has cerebral palsy hemiplegia, which has also led to infantile spasms (the reason why you might have seen him chunk up, due to being on strong steriod medication). We have now got the infantile spasms under control, however we now need to focus on physiotherapy to help Oliver reach his full potential. We have been working with the nhs and doing our own physio at home. He has been working so hard and now at 15 months, can roll and sit up. He cannot crawl or walk yet and has little function of his right arm. These are things that most parents wouldn't think much of, as they watch their child grow and reach milestones, so each time he reaches a milestone we are even more proud of him, seeing how much effort he has had to put in to get there. Studies have shown that early intervention is key and so so critical to help with brain plasticity, which basically helps the brain re-wire. As amazing as the nhs are, they are under a large workload and we can only do so much at home without a professionals input. We are looking to raise money to help us provide Oliver with private and intensive physiotherapy sessions, especially in these important early years. We know that there are a lot of causes and charities already out there. It is also a very hard time for most at the moment, so if you can, thank you so much for donating. If you are unable to donate, thank you for reading our story, as we feel it is important to raise more awareness about strokes at any age, not just the older generation.