Late last March, our son Jack was taken ill, suffering from shooting pains down his limbs on either side of his body. These pains had come and gone for a while, but medical investigations including CT scans hadn't revealed anything serious to worry about.

This time though, the pains were more severe and sustained, to the point that Jack had to be taken into Wishaw General Hospital, where he gradually began to lose feeling and function down the right side of his body. After a few days, he was transferred to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow, where an MRI scan found that Jack had a Spinal Arteriovenous Malformation, an extremely rare condition where enlarged blood vessels swell and damage the spinal cord, interrupting the signals between his brain and the rest of his body.

An angiogram was scheduled to try to remove the cluster, but unfortunately, Jack suffered a bleed into his spinal cord before the procedure could be carried out, which initially left him with paralysis in all four limbs. The angiogram was carried out, but unfortunately Jack then had to endure an eight and a half hour operation the following week. Through the incredible skill of the surgeons and the rehab treatment he received in the six months that followed in hospital, as well as the ongoing rehab he is now receiving at home, he has since regained partial function in his arms and is showing promising signs in his legs and feet. He is able to use an electric wheelchair, but still faces huge challenges in his day-to-day life.

He is determined to make the best recovery possible, and to help him do so, we are raising money to send him to the Neurokinex clinic in Gatwick, who offer Activity-based Rehabilitation (ABR) to people with all levels of spinal cord injury and other neurological conditions. Here, he will be able to receive treatments such as the Xcite Wide Pulse Stimulation system, which allows a trainer to tailor an individualised therapy program to complete complex upper limb, lower limb and general functional tasks, and take part in Locomotor Training on a treadmill.

Any contribution at all to his future treatment would be gratefully received. We have been humbled by the overwhelming support he has received so far.

Thank you,

The McGarry Family