On the 23rd of May 2010 Emjay's Daddy, Jeff Ringelholtz along with 9 other family members and friends will be jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane in order to raise money to help find a cure for Cystic fibrosis!!
Martha Jessica May Ringelholtz known to all as Emjay was born 12Th May 2009 weighing in at a very decent 8lb12oz, with no early signs what so of anything sinister going on apart from ALOT of dirty and VERY smelly nappies. We were then told that they needed to re-do her heel prick test as it wasn't quite right "but don't worry it often happens if the sample had been contaminated". Unfortunately it hadn't been contaminated and we were told 3 days later that it was highly likely that she had Cystic Fibrosis!! and then when Emjay was just beginning to "fail to thrive" she was diagnosed definitely at 5 weeks via a stool sample and sweat test. There is only one way to describe it and thats...DEVASTATING. Its a disease that has truly risen its ugly head and bitten us right where it hurts, having not had any signs within either families histories.
Emjay's life now consists of permanent antibiotics given 3 times a day to try and keep away chest infections, Creon enzymes with everything she eats to help her digest her food as she has virtually no pancreatic function, physio on her chest to help her lungs stay free from sticky mucus and monthly hospital check ups. There has been 2 occasions when we have used the 24/7 walk in rights to the children's wards due to chest infections. Having said that, what we have gone through so far as she approaches her first birthday pales into insignificance compared to what others do or what we may go through in the future, which why CF suffers need a cure and they need one fast!
As Emjays parents we would just like to say a HUGE thank-you to everyone who is "Jumping 4 Emjay"...talk about snowballing, what started out as a passing "hey Jeff fancy doing a sky-dive" with the reply of "YEAH" has now turned into 10 nutters oops sorry family and friends jumping from an aeroplane at 12,000 ft to raise money to help find a cure for this terrible disease.
The Jumpers:-
My name is Sue Thomson and i am 41 years young, mum to Jade and Natasha. So what inspired me to put my name down to jump out of an aeroplane....two reasons, the first a chance of being strapped to a hunky ex para although i get the sneaky feeling the one i am strapped to will be about 100 years old - just my luck, the second to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis and in particular to draw attention to a beautiful little girl who is always full of life - Emjay. I am a friend of the family and love visiting Emjay, seeing her grow and her cheeky smile!!
Mandi Lindley is 41, a mother of 2 and a childhood friend of Sue. Bless her, she really didn't know what she had let herself in for when she replied "yes" to the question "hey Mandi do you fancy being strapped to an ex-para!!"...well she does now and even though she hasn't even seen Emjay or met her family she's terrified but still willing to take that dive which I for one feel very humbled.
My name is Will I'm 20 years old. I'm shit scared of heights but i jumped at the chance of doing a sky dive to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis as my cousin and god daughter Emjay suffers from the disease. Shes a happy little girl and we all love her very much.
Ricky Wells - Is Emjay's sister's boyfriend who absolutely idolises Emjay.
My name is Jade I'm 19. Emjay is my friends little sister and I am doing the skydive because even though she has CF every time I see her shes always happy and always smiling and she brightens up the room and everyone around her. If she can be happy and smiling all the time, I can certainly jump out of a plane.
Matty Jebson - Cousin and Godfather,
My names Tasha, I'm 16 years old and I'm Emjay's sisters best friend and also her Godfather/Cousin's girlfriend. Emjay is a very brave little girl and I would do anything to help raise funds to help find a cure for CF. Emjay helps me put things into perspective because she doesn't stop smiling even when her illness gets bad.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is one of the UK's most common life-threatening inherited diseases.
Cystic Fibrosis affects over 8,500 people in the UK.
Over two million people in the UK carry the faulty gene that causes Cystic Fibrosis - around 1 in 25 of the population.
- If two carriers have a child, the baby has a 1 in 4 chance of having Cystic Fibrosis.
- Cystic Fibrosis affects the internal organs, especially the lungs and digestive system, by clogging them with thick sticky mucus. This makes it hard to breathe and digest food.
- Each week, five babies are born with Cystic Fibrosis.
- Each week, three young lives are lost to Cystic Fibrosis.
- Around half of the CF population can expect to live over 38 years, although improvements in treatments mean a baby born today could expect to live even longer.
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. Helen xx
