Jen and I first met over 12 years ago at police training school. She met Wesley and then came Teddy.

Teddy is now 4 years old. When he was born he had damage to part of his brain, which has ultimately affected his whole messaging system to the extent that he is unable to talk and struggles to walk properly. He has severe global developmental delay and learning difficulties, which come with a huge array of challenges. In the last couple of months Teddy has been diagnosed as having two rare genetic conditions (PGK/1) which affects his muscles and phosphate levels, and (TLK/2) which appear to be the main cause of his learning difficulties. The latter is such a rare condition that Teddy is one of 30 children in Europe who have been identified with it, and needless to say there is still a huge amount of research still to be completed.

Teddy has specially made foot splints to help him progress with his walking, and over the last year these have supported him enough so that he can take some unaided steps. He has recently been placed under the care of an Orthopaedic surgeon due to the difficulty he has walking and the tightness of his muscles. At this stage intensive physio has been recommended before considering more intrusive treatments. Teddy has a degree of physio at school but this is insufficient so Jen & Wesley have paid privately for him to have regular sessions, which have benefitted him.

Teddy attends a wonderful special needs school where he receives one to one care and support in helping him with basic communication skills, improving fine motor skills, developing an understanding of daily activities and helping him interact with others to name but a few things.

We have no idea what the future holds for Teddy, whether he will say a word or even a whole sentence, whether he will be a competent walker or even run, but what we do know is he is a happy little boy with the most contagious little laugh!