On15th August 2016, 2 year old Emerson Grant was diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst on his spine.   This resulted in him becoming paralysed from the chest down, diagnosed as a Spinal Cord Injury - Tetraplegia.

Since being diagnosed, Emerson lost all mobility.  He is unable to walk, sit or use his bowels and bladder independently and suffers  from Autonomic Dysreflexia a life threatening condition that if not managed can result in a seizure or stroke.

Sadly, in May 2017 Emerson suffered from a seizure and it was confirmed that the arachnoid cyst had returned.  Emerson underwent further open surgery on the spine to decompress the cyst which  meant further health complications to Emerson central nervous system.

Emerson is unable to regulate his body temperature which if not managed could be life threatening.

August 2017, Emerson's family received the worse news ever.  The cyst had returned for the 3rd time. However, it is too high risk to operate and to high risk not to operate. Emerson will most certainly loss more mobility and it will effect his upper body, hands, arm movement and respiratory.

Today, the cyst is growing inside Emerson's spine and is causing further health complications such as kyphosis, neurological changes and further deterioration.

Emerson’s family now need to wait for significant deterioration, before the next surgery is carried out, either way the outcome is the same.

Sadly, Emerson has now been diagnosed with additional health issues.  Low bone density and osteopenia due to Emerson having no movement in his lower limbs. 

It is important to keep Emerson’s body moving, through specialist physic therapy sessions and specialist equipment, otherwise his bones could become brittle and could break from a simple movement such as sneezing.

We need to ensure Emerson’s strength and progress is maintained. He needs the best chance of recovery after any future operation. We need to slow down and cure the additional health complications.

The 300 Challenge - We need 100 people to raise £100 in 100 days

We have two goals – the purchase of a FES bike and the funding of specialist therapy in America.

These are both beyond the £10k target of The 300 Challenge, however we plan to use this as a starting point   to raise more funds through the early part of 2018.

Please help Emerson on his road to recovery #emersongrant2014

#the300challenge

Visit the events page: The road to recovery after a spinal cord injury