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John is from Derry in Northern Ireland was born at 25 weeks gestation which meant he came into the world 15 weeks early. He weighed 1lb 7oz. He had less than 50% chance of surviving.

When he was two weeks old he contracted pseudomonas and fought the fight of his life to survive. However, because his body was working so hard just to stay alive there wasn’t enough oxygen getting to his brain and, as a result he suffered brain damage.

When he was 8 weeks old he had to have emergency sight saving surgery.

John spent first 4 months of his life in hospital with many ups and downs. On numerous occasions doctors didn’t think he would make it but John fought on and surprised everyone again and again.

John came home on the 2nd April 2012 and continued on oxygen therapy at home.

At 5 months he had surgery for inguinal hernias.

John is now 7years old. He is alert and although non verbal he knows every word spoken to him . We are currently working towards him being able to use an eye gaze computer to be able to communicate and loves being the centre of attention. He really enjoys the company of his big sister and his cousins. He loves to go on the swings , to be pushed fast in his chair so he can feel the wind and he loves to watch mr tumble giggle-biz Balamory and the Tweenies. His other favourite is the mama Mia movies. Yes he is a big fan 

Physically he is unable to sit up by himself, unable to use his hands and has not reached any of the milestones most children progress through.
John's consultants have confirmed that John has dystonic and spastic quadriplegia, a very severe form of cerebral palsy which means all his limbs are affected. John will uses a wheel chair and has other physical and learning difficulties.

We are fundraising for Just4children so that John can receive Advanced Biomechanical Rehabilitation (ABR). This therapy was developed by Leonid Blyum in Russia and it has made its way across Europe as far as Scotland only recently. The crux of this therapy is that the child is assessed and then the parents of the child are trained to perform very subtle, compressional pressure on the various areas of the baby’s trunk area from the neck down. This strengthens the child’s core tissue. It is a slow process which involves two- three hours per day but which has shown remarkable results.

John has been through so much in his short life and will face so many more challenges but he always has a smile that can light up a room. Everyone who meets him is touched by him. My wish for him is that through ABR we can give him a better quality of life and help him reach his milestones. He has already achieved so much in the fiveyears we have been doing ABR. He has avoided one operation and is a much happier, stronger little boy.

Thank you for your kindness. You are giving my son a chance at having a better quality of life.