I have decided to run the GEAR 10k this year to raise funds for Violet and her family. Violet's dad, Gavin, and a number of friends also plan to do a Three Peaks Challenge in September. We will all be outside of our comfort zones but are very excited and motivated, knowing that our efforts, accompanied by the generosity of all you lovely people wanting to donate your hard earned money, will make a considerable difference to Violet and her family to hopefully ensure she can be provided with a better quality of life. Below is Violet's journey to date, in her dad's words:

Violet made a unexpected emergency entrance into this world on 6th November 2017. It quickly became apparent that things were not great. Immediately following birth, Violet received back-to-back blood transfusions after requiring approximately four minutes of resuscitation in order to get her breathing. At seven hours old the NICU staff noticed she was having seizures, and a decision to transfer her out for emergency specialist treatment was taken after the staff agreed they did not have the facilities to manage Violet's immediate needs.

Luton and Dunstable Hospital took charge of her care and she eventually arrived there at approximately 19 hours of age. Whilst preparing her for the journey, a member of the transfer team pulled me to one side and admitted that given her incredibly poor condition, there was a significant chance that she would not last the journey. Thankfully she did, and once in Luton she was incubated and ventilated and received 72 hours of cooling therapy, specialist treatment that is designed to help reduce the impact of injuries to the brain, suffered as a result of the lack of oxygen.

Her first MRI scan took place a week after birth and at 10 days old the report, having been reviewed by the UK‘s leading neurological specialist, was relayed to us. The results were devastating. The damage to Violet's brain was classified as severe and widespread. It was a bittersweet day for us as it was the day we finally got to hold her for the first time but was also the first time we were given an indication of the true extent of the implications to Violet's future. The findings of an MRI scan revealed that it was likely Violet would never able to walk or talk, that she would be blind and would require to be tube fed for the duration of her life.

The next few days were spent in an even bigger daze than we‘d already been in. The medical team gradually got Violet breathing independently, something she had still not been able to do at this stage. A few days later, her brothers were able to see her for the first time. Gradually she became strong enough to breath independently and with the ventilator removed, she was transferred back to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn, meaning Laura and I could at least be at home with the boys in the evening once we were home from hospital. We were then able to do the school run each morning before returning to the hospital to be with Violet for the day ahead. Four days short of being one-month-old, we were finally able to bring Violet home.

We have had incredible support from friends and family to date. This has been invaluable and we are incredibly grateful to all for this. Going forward, Violet continues to suffer from infantile spasms. This is a form of epilepsy. The consultant had hoped she would grow out of this but more recently has conceded that, due to the severity of her brain injuries, this is less likely. Her spasms are worst following sleep and on a bad day she can have up to 200 spasms a day. These are often very distressing for her but equally they completely sap her of energy. Then she sleeps. A lot.

All of this in turn has an impact on her development - she has global development delay and Cerebral Palsy affecting all four limbs. At 16 months old, she is not yet able to roll, crawl, sit or have effective use of her hands. That said, she works incredibly hard every day and we remain hopeful she will prove the consultants wrong in time.

Violet will soon have an operation on her tongue to correct tongue tie, something that has only recently been acknowledged. We hope this will help feeding become less challenging for her and will also hopefully help her become more vocal. She is seeing an osteopath as well as regular physio and occupational health support visits. On a positive note, to date, she retains her sight and whilst feeding is a challenge for her, she can still do so without the requirement of the feeding tube.

There are a number of requirements that we now have for Violet's future. Adaptations to the home so that she can have a bedroom and bathroom downstairs, as well as alterations to the layout of our home to provide wheelchair access, ensuring that in time Violet can be as independent as is possible.