Brady is currently 10 years old and at 18 months he started a roller coaster journey that he is still battling and will continue to battle for the rest of his life.
Originally thought to have had cerebral palsy it was clear a year into his diagnosis that his condition was progressing.
After 50 weeks of fighting we managed to get him an mri scan which revealed he had an abnormal vein system within his spinal column. Brady had what was termed as a perimedullary AV fistula in the mid lumber of his spine. The rarity of the condition required the help of a specialist surgeon to be flown in to Belfast to diagnose Brady. With only one other case reported in the last 25 years we knew this was going to be a long road.
Once assessed it was uncertain as to what could be done to help Brady and at that moment he was the highest risk child in the Royal Victoria hospital.
It was decided that there would be only one procedure to postpone the aggressiveness of the condition and that as parents we would be faced with one of the most difficult decisions we would ever have to make, the surgery would keep him alive but he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair due to the he damage the procedure would cause.
Nothing would ever prepare us for having to explain to a 4 year old he would never walk again.
These things make us stronger and 6 years on Brady still lives with the danger of his condition being in control of his life but we never want him to want for anything and this year he saw a power assist attachment for his wheelchair at a mobility show. It will power his chair for up to 12 miles and would give him the freedom of being able to go for walks as a family and not have to worry about long journeys tiring him out. He wants to be able to keep up with his younger brother on his bike and not have to ask people to push him.
The unit will cost us nearly £9000 and we are trying to raise at least £4300 to help towards the cost of improving his everyday life.
THANKS