We would like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who has supported Alex in his Spring Appeal . 

We are going to continue to fundraise via a new page, www.justgiving.com/alexmac12  as we still need to raise money for Alex’s future conductive education session fees and The Legacy.  Alex and his friends will need their support for many years to come – this is NOT a quick fix therapy. 

Every time I see one of our children achieve a new skill, it brings tears to my eyes – imagine what a wreck I am when Alex does the same.  We hope that over the next few years, he will learn to support his own weight & eventually walk (and prove all the professionals wrong) – this will not only be down to the sheer hard work he has to do to succeed, along with the work of the amazing staff of The Legacy, but it will be a direct result of YOUR donation.  Your gift will last him a lifetime and for that we will be forever grateful. 

PLEASE, PLEASE keep supporting us – every pound counts towards helping a disabled child learn to be more independent.

Alex’s Mum & Dad

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Please take just a couple of minutes to read my story and see how the amazing Legacy Rainbow House has changed our lives.....

A Mother’s Story 

Six years ago, Alex’s life started in total confusion  – he was born by emergency caesarean, I never got to go into labour or even have contractions - something went wrong and he nearly left us before they could get him out. 

His heart wasn't beating and he wasn't breathing.  But, thankfully, he is a strong little man and a real fighter....

I didn’t get to see or hold him when he was born, and I didn’t hear him cry – he was whisked away to the Neo-natal Unit without us, to do what they had to do to get him breathing.  It was 7 hours before I got to see him and a week before I could hold him.

We were told quite early on the devastating news that he had permanent brain damage due to oxygen starvation which had happened around the time of his birth.  He spent 3 ½  weeks in neo-natal, during which time we had to learn how to look after him, put in feeding tubes, feed him and deal with his medicines etc – things that weren’t in the baby books we had bought! 

The brain damage has left him with Severe Cerebral Palsy affecting both his arms and legs, Global Development Delay, Epilepsy and he is now fed through a tube into his stomach (which replaced the horrible tube up his nose) - he is unable to do anything for himself.  The doctors told us that it would be very unlikely that he would ever talk, eat, sit or walk - all things that we take for granted.

THEN.....just as we were getting the hang of the cerebral palsy and the medical issues that that brings, we very nearly lost him twice last year.......

He suddenly got very poorly and was in a lot of pain.... After a lot of frustrating tests, the doctors discovered that he has a life threatening bowel problem – malrotation (unrelated to his cerebral palsy) which means that everything isn't where it should be!  His bowels had developed a serious twist and he needed emergency surgery to fix it.  We were in a state of shock.  We then had a couple of month long stays in hospital to recover from this surgery and the resulting digestion problems.  Then, just when we thought things were back to normal, he started being violently sick and again had to have more emergency surgery to sort his bowels out again....it was a horrendous time for all of us...and it was another month in hospital recovering.  We hope that this is now all sorted out but we live with the constant worry that it may all happen again and if so, what will the consequences be.

But.... we have a huge positive in our lives.  When Alex was 2, we found The Legacy Rainbow House and a therapy called Conductive Education.  This was the best thing we ever did as they have helped Alex achieve so much more than he was supposed to and our ‘family’ of staff and parents have all been there to support us through the bad times we have had.

The amazing staff there have taught him to suck from a bottle(a natural reflex that he never had and deprived me of being able to feed my baby like everyone else);  to drink and eat a little;  to start rolling over;  to hold his head up (it's amazing how hard gravity makes this-your head is very heavy!);  to sit briefly on his own;  and to take a few steps (with help) – all things we take for granted but are so hard when they don’t come naturally.

He still has a long way to go, but he is doing so well, despite his long hospital stays.  We hope that he’ll keep learning and become more independent so that he doesn’t need to totally rely on us.  We never planned to be carers into our old age, it’s supposed to be the other way round.  His dad would love to be able to have a kick about in the garden one day, and I desperately look forward to the day I hear my son say ‘Mummy’ and gives me a hug!

I am so proud every week when I pick him up from his lessons, he works so hard but we really need his Conductive Education sessions to carry on. 

The Legacy Rainbow House teaches kids from all over the Northwest and the UK and is vitally important to Alex and his friends- the other 80 or so children who attend classes there.  In the current financial climate, it is harder than ever for the charity to raise funds so we are helping out.

Thank you so much for reading my story .... Please dig deep and support Alex’s Appeal to raise £3000 by the end of April so that we can keep the classes running – Alex’s future will NOT be the same without them.  They are truly changing our lives for the better.

Thank you,    

               Karen (Alex’s very proud Mum)

First time I saw you , you were in a box
I cleaned your little face with cotton wool, stroked your dark fine hair
Looked into your eyes and knew it would be ok
Never before had I feared like I did when you were sick
The tube is meant to feed you, the needles help your blood get better
I want to hold you, Daddy wants to hold you too
the baby next to us is really sick
silent crys and arms up.
But you got strong
Born to Live

You are so special ♥ 

(by Pop N Grow)

This video shows the kids at The Legacy and what they are achieving with HUGE smiles! Please take a look:    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZW-YV3FqZU

You can make a text donation to Alex's Appeal from your mobile.
Simply text TLRH54 £5 to 70070  (or other amounts £1, £2, £4, £10) - all the money goes to my appeal with no network charge!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.