My fiancé Shaun and I are excited to be taking part in our 1st Total Warrior Lake District on Saturday 4th August 2018.

We have decided to raise money for a charity that we were introduced to shortly after we found out our beautiful daughter was going to be born with a lower leg condition called ‘Fibular Hemimelia’.

I remember the day like it was yesterday, we were at the hospital for a routine 20 week check up, excited to find out the sex of the baby. The ultrasound technician took quite some time measuring everything as they do. She asked us to go for a walk as the baby was in a funny position and she was unable to see one of her feet. Unbeknown to us we went for a 20 minute walk, at this point not thinking anything of it. After returning and having another look, I heard the words ‘I’m sorry but there seems to be a problem with your babies leg’.

I said nothing, hoping it was all a joke, but in complete shock and disbelief at the same time. She left the room and returned with one of the midwives to take us to another room where they could explain what they had found. As we were at Helme Chase, a small hospital in Kendal, there was no consultants to speak to, so the midwife tried her very best to comfort us and explain, however it was not something she had seen before.

At this point we had no idea really what was wrong, or the severity.

Before we left the hospital they arranged an appointment in Manchester for another ultrasound with a consultant. The appointment was 6 days away though, which seemed like weeks at the time.

We got to the hospital in Manchester for our appointment, and entered an ultrasound room with the ultrasound technician, consultant and doctor. After 30 minutes we were taken in to another room to chat about what they had found. The doctor explained that our baby was missing her fibula in her left leg, causing her leg to be shorter and her foot deformed with only 3 toes.

Fibular Hemimelia was the name of her condition, with 1 in every 50,000 babies born with it.

From there we were booked in for an appointment at the Specialist Ability Centre Manchester. This is where we were able to speak to a consultant that understood her condition and could answer all our questions.

Everything after that was a bit of a blur until the day our gorgeous baby girl was born ‘Laila Anne Edmondson’.

She was perfect in every way!

She is now 9 months old, and I’m sure it is natural to worry about her future. I think about what she is going to have to have to go through every day.

But I have never met someone that smiles as much as she does, she wakes up with the biggest smile on her face everyday. She has recently started crawling, in her own 'army crawl' sort of way. And is starting to try and climb stairs. Absolutely nothing will stop her, and she makes me appreciate life that much more every day.

We are very lucky to have so much support, but we believe it is so important to be informed, supported and most importantly just have someone to talk to on those bad days.

Steps helps so many families in many different ways, but there is so much more they could do.

Please help us reach our goal of £1500 so steps can continue helping so many families that need them!