Please, take a couple of minutes to read our story to see how the amazing Legacy Rainbow House is changing our lives..... 

Seven years ago, Alex’s life started in total confusion – he was born by emergency caesarean as something had gone wrong.

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

There was no time to see or hold him when he was born, and we didn’t hear him cry – he was whisked away to the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit.  It was 7 hours before we got to see him and a week before we could give him a cuddle.

We were told the devastating news that Alex 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 feeding tubes up his nose, feed him and deal with his medicines etc.  They discharged him on my birthday – best present I’ve ever had!

The brain damage has left Alex with Severe Cerebral Palsy which affects his whole body, Global Development Delay, Epilepsy and he is now fed through a tube into his stomach – he finds it incredibly hard to do anything for himself.  The doctors warned us that it would be very unlikely that he would ever talk, eat, sit or walk and that there is no cure.

Then.....as we were getting used to life with a disabled child, 2010/2011 became the scariest period of my life when we nearly lost him twice.......

He suddenly got very poorly and was in a lot of pain - his lack of communication meant that he couldn’t tell us what was hurting; all he could do was scream. After a lot of frustratingly slow tests, the doctors diagnosed a rare life-threatening bowel problem – Intestinal Malrotation which basically means that things in his tummy aren’t where they should be!  He had developed a severely twisted bowel and needed emergency surgery to fix it.  We were in a state of shock.  This led to a couple of month-long stays in Alder Hey Childrens Hospital while he recovered from the surgery and the resulting digestion problems. 

Then, 3 months later, just when we thought things were getting back to normal, he started being violently sick again and had to have more emergency surgery on his bowels....it was a horrendous, scary time for all of us...and it was another month in hospital recovering. We now live with the constant worry that it may all happen again and if so, what will the consequences be.

However, we have a huge positive in our lives.  When Alex was 2, we found The Legacy Rainbow House and a therapy called Conductive Education.  They have helped Alex achieve so much more than the Doctors said and our ‘family’ of staff and parents have been there to support us through the bad times when Alex was so poorly.

The amazing staff have so far taught him 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 your body won’t do as its told.

Alex still has a long way to go, but he is doing incredibly well and has already made up for the lost time in hospital.  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 wait for 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 need to make sure that his Conductive Education sessions continue.  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!

The Legacy Rainbow House teaches kids from all over the Northwest 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 taking the time to read our story ....

Please dig deep and support Alex’s Appeal to keep his classes running – Alex’s future will not be the same without them and your Gift will last him a lifetime. 

They are truly changing his life for the better.  

Thank you,    

               Karen (Alex’s very proud Mum)

 

You can also make a text donation to Alex's Appeal from your mobile.
Simply text TLRH67 £5 to 70070  (or other amounts £1, £2, £4, £10) - all the money goes to Alex’s Appeal with no network charge!

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.

So please dig deep and donate now.