As many of our friends and colleagues might remember the baby Silver campaign, in 2016 a new born baby called Silver Beckham Bazira was diagnosed with a blood disorder that required a bone marrow transplant in the hope for a cure and pain free life. At the time, we had met Silver's consultant who said that Silver would not meet the criteria for such a treatment given that one had to have suffered numerous difficulties such as a stroke, abnormal MRI, kidney and liver problems plus many others as a result of his diagnosis. As parents, this was difficult to comprehend and so took on to fundraise so that our little boy could have this treatment privately in India which was at a cost of £25000 minimum. Luckily for us, we met another consultant who saw different reasons why Silver needed and met the criteria and as such Silver was put on NHS waiting list for bone marrow transplant. On leaving the consultants office, we stopped fundraising and notified everyone concerned of the new development. Some people still gave us donations to help us through; as severally we had to call off work due to the many lengthy hospital appointments and yet bills and rent had to be paid and we didn't have any government support at that moment. This money also helped us to travel to and from the hospital. Further more, some of it was used to test our daughter Genevieve back in Uganda to see if she was a match for Silver; unfortunately, she wasn't. Silver therefore went forth with a half match stem cell transplant with cells from his dad in July 2017, having been in hospital since June of the same year. Unfortunately for us, three months post hospital admission, we were given the devastating news that the transplant had failed. Plans for a second transplant were made and we were discharged so Silver could get stronger. We were in and out of hospital between September 2017 - February 2018 for when he was admitted again for a second transplant. For fear of the unknown, we didn't inform friends and family of this. Unfortunately, the transplant failed again and too bad for us, Silver suffered seriously with various infections. A third transplant was then planned, but one week to transplant, Silver developed yet another infection and a decision was made by the medical team and us family that a transplant was no longer in his best interest as it may have just killed him rather than give him the much needed cure. Though we didn't get the results we needed, we still have our little boy, perhaps not healthy, but still smiley and full of energy. Without support from Ronald McDonald house , Birmingham ; a home away from home, we don't know how we could have coped with a child in hospital for six months, and a young daughter. This enabled us to maintain a family life as much as possible; giving us both parents the chance to look after Silver on a shift basis as well as Serena seeing her brother each and every day at wish. Thankfully, Ronald McDonald House; a five minutes walk facility from the hospital ensured that we didn't suffer such extra stress and that we'd have a place to call home while the little man received the care he needed. After a long day at the hospital receiving all sorts of devastating news, Ronald McDonald House for us is a home away from home, a place to retire, unwind and recover, before starting another day at the hospital. The house has all facilities needed for a proper day to day running of a family with a kitchen, lounge, play room to mention but a few with compassionate staff. That's why with the support of friends and family, known and unknown, we welcome everyone with a compassionate heart to join us in supporting this great house that gives support to 66 families each day, all year round. This is a charity and therefore survives on the support of generous donations from people like you. Anything and every amount counts; one by one makes a bundle. So please, let's join in and support as much as we can. Raising £11550 would support the house to offer housing for the 66 families for a week. Hopefully, Silver's immunity gets better and he too can be allowed out of his hospital room to spend a few hours at this great place before he is fit enough to be discharged home.

Thank you,
Peter and Mebal