Buzz, our little superhero...

In December 2015, Buzz Rowswell was born full-term and healthy. But a few days after leaving hospital he fell very ill due to untreated new-born jaundice, which unfortunately resulted in a permanent brain injury.

Buzz's brain injury is called 'Kernicterus' and effects less than 1 in 100,000 children and is classed as a ‘never event’ (as in it shouldn’t happen) in many modern countries, as the professionals have all the necessary means of testing and treating jaundice.

However, our hospital and local community service neglected to take Buzz’s jaundice seriously and our little guy is now left battling with the consequences every day of his life.

Luckily for us, Buzz is a real fighter and after being given a small percentage of survival he beat the odds. But sadly due to his brain injury he has severe cerebral palsy and can’t crawl, walk, talk or sit up unaided... yet!

Due to his injury, Buzz also has a rare type of hearing loss called auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). In addition to this he also suffers with a lot of pain from constant muscle spasms and has an unsafe swallow so has to be fed and given his medications through a peg feeding tube directly into his tummy. As a result of all this Buzz has been classed as life limited.

Buzz and his amazing mum Vikki, me and big brother Roo work relentlessly every day on a range of therapies and activities including physio, speech & language, occupational therapy, hydrotherapy, rebound therapy and many other activities to help Buzz progress in life.

But more can be done and we are trying to raise £55,000 in total so Buzz can take a series of trips to Panama for life-changing stem cell therapy, something that the NHS will not fund. We are hoping to have raised £5,000 through other fundraisers and kind donations and to raise the rest through here. For the latest updates see the Buzz's Battle Facebook page

This type of stem cell therapy would mean injecting stem cells into Buzz to help repair some of the damaged tissue in the brain. As with any therapy there are no guarantees, but other children with the same brain injury have seen incredible results with one of Buzz’s Kernicterus friends starting to sit independently, say words and most importantly suffer a lot less pain.

So, how can you help? Quite simply by helping to fundraise through a challenge or simply just by donating here.

We just want to give Buzz the best chance at having a happy, healthy and long life and with your help we can.

Thank you so much on behalf of Buzz. xxx