Story
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">My name is Liam O’Hagan. I’m taking part in my first Triathlon to raise funds to help my cousin James who has Cerebral Palsy go to America for an operation to help him walk. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">When James was just 8 weeks old he had a heart attack and died. He was dead on arrival at Worthing Hospital and although doctors there were able to resuscitate him his mum and dad were told he had a less than 1% chance of surviving. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">Well, somehow James did survive and today he is a typical 5 year old boy – funny, bright and mischievous. His major difficulty is walking which he can manage only with the aid of sticks and only over very short distances. The wear and tear on his body means that by the time he is a teenager he will probably need daily use of a wheelchair. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">HOWEVER...thanks to pioneering surgery in St. Louis, Missouri, James now has the chance to walk independently. Doctors there perform a procedure known as Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) which prevents the messages from the brain being carried by nerves to the muscles in the legs, which causes them to stiffen. They have performed this operation on over 2,000 children in St. Louis and enjoy a 100% success rate. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">In order for James to have this operation we need to raise £60,000 which will cover the costs of the operation, James’ stay in America for a month for intensive physiotherapy and 2 years of further therapy when he returns to the UK. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">My aim is to try and raise £500 in sponsorship of my triathlon on the 3<sup>rd</sup> July. The event involves a 1,500m lake swim, 40km bike ride and a 10km run – pretty punishing stuff I’m sure you’ll agree. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;">If you would like to support me in this challenge and help my cousin get his chance to walk, you will be making a really important contribution to our appeal and giving James a lasting quality of life 5 years ago none of thought was imaginable. </span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; background: white;"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Anyone interested in helping the James O'Hagan Appeal is asked to contact Caudwell Children on 01782 600114 or to donate online visit </span><a href="http://www.justgiving.com/achancetowalk"><span style="color: #2a42c6;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">www.justgiving.com/achancetowalk</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; background: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span></strong><span style="color: #1c1c1c; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: left; background: white;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><strong><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Important note to donors:</span></strong><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> As long as James requires the funds raised to pay for treatment in the United States, Caudwell Children will manage all payments of funds for the family. Should there come a time, for whatever reason, that James no longer requires the funds raised for medical treatment and living expenses while in America then the monies raised will be used to provide similar donations to sick and disabled children living within the UK through the charity, Caudwell Children.</span></span></span><span style="color: #1c1c1c; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></p>
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