On Friday 25th of January 2019 I have decided to take on the challenge of a fully documented sponsored silence (8am - 10pm) anyone who knows me personally knows what a huge challenge this will be for me #chatterbox but of course it will all be worth it for Buzz as every little helps in raising the funds needed for his life changing treatment!

This is Buzz’s story;

In December 2015, Buzz Rowswell was born full-term and healthy. But a few days after leaving hospital he fell very ill due to untreated new-born jaundice which resulted in a permanent brain injury.

This type of brain injury is called kernicterus and effects less than 1 in 100,000 children and is classed as a ‘never event’ (as in it shouldn’t happen) in many modern countries, as the professionals have all the necessary means of testing and treating jaundice.

However, the hospital and local community service neglected to take Buzz’s jaundice seriously and he is now left living with the consequences.

Luckily Buzz is a real fighter and after being given a small percentage of survival and beating all the odds he has grown into the most charismatic, brave and loving little guy. But sadly due to his brain injury he has severe cerebral palsy and can’t crawl, walk, talk or sit up unaided... yet!

Buzz also has a rare type of hearing loss called auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). In addition to this he also suffers with a lot of pain from constant muscle spasms and has an unsafe swallow so has to be fed and given his medications through a peg feeding tube directly into his tummy. Due to all this Buzz has been classed as life limited.

Buzz and his amazing mum Vikki, dad Glenn and big brother Roo work relentlessly every day on a range of therapies including physio, speech & language, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy, rebound therapy and many other activities to help Buzz progress.

But more can be done and we are trying to raise enough money for Buzz to take a series of trips to Panama for life-changing stem cell therapy, something that the NHS will not fund.

This type of stem cell therapy would mean injecting stem cells into Buzz to help repair some of the damaged tissue in the brain. As with any therapy there are no guarantees, but other children with the same brain injury have seen incredible results with one of Buzz’s Kernicterus friends starting to sit independently, say words and most importantly be in a lot less pain.

So, how can you help? Quite simply by becoming one of Buzz’s Bees and helping to fundraise or simply just by donating.

We just want to give Buzz the best chance at having a happy, healthy and long life and with your help we can.

Thank you on behalf of Buzz. xxx