Get Jude to Melbourne for Intensive Rehab Therapy ❤️

To all our favourite people, friends, family and those we may not have met,

Most of you know our beautiful boy Jude and have followed along on our journey for the last 4 years. For those who may not have been following along, Jude became unwell at 24 days old with a bacterial infection causing meningitis and sepsis. Unfortunately Jude sustained extensive injury to his brain and has been left with lifelong disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy, Cortical Vision Impairment, Epilepsy, Global Developmental Delay, and is non-verbal. Jude also underwent open heart surgery in NSW during this time to repair two holes in his heart due to CHD.

We would like to start by saying how beyond grateful we are for each and every one of you and for the endless support we have received and continue to receive from our ‘village’. We are so blessed to have such beautiful people in our lives who also share our unconditional love and hope for Jude

Next year in February 2025, we will (again) be making the 9+ hour drive over to Melbourne for Jude to attend a 3 week Intensive Rehabilitation Therapy Course at NAPA Centre Melbourne. Jude will be working very hard over 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks. He will be working on speech (sign and alternative communication), Physio and DMI therapy to build strength and physical resilience and feeding therapy where we will work on expanding his diet and range of preferred foods and continue working on the use of cutlery.

All of these skills are invaluable for Jude and it is imperative that we are able to provide this intensive support for him, as we want nothing more than to help provide Jude with endless opportunities to develop his skills and thrive, despite the adversities he will face throughout his life.

Whilst we are lucky enough to receive funding from NDIS that will cover the Intensive Therapy course, unfortunately the cost of accommodation for 3 weeks in Melbourne is an out of pocket cost for us. Accommodation costs for a 3 week period are around $5000 give or take, and with the current cost of living stresses, at this current stage in our lives we just don’t have that amount of money to spare. We understand that budgets are tight at the moment, and we don’t usually ask, but we are reaching out to our village for any support that can be offered to help get our boy the therapy he needs, for the future he deserves ❤️

Jude attended NAPA in May this year (2024) and the progress he made absolutely blew our minds! If you would like to watch his progress videos they are on my (Tara’s) instagram @lifewith_judeanddaisy

❤️ Tara and Sam (Jude’s Mum and Dad) xo