*Please take a look at the gallery, pictures of Riley from birth to present *

Rileys Story.....

My eldest son Riley who is 9 years old born 29th July 2011 was born with a cleft lip and palate, I found out on my 20 week scan that he had a cleft lip as his lip and nose did not join together. I was told at the time they wouldn't be able to diagnose the palate until birth, unfortunately the roof of Riley's mouth did not form either and he would require surgery to improve his quality of life. Riley had to have special feeding bottes as he wasn't able to suck off a 'normal bottle' he had to have special design bottle teats to fit the shape of his mouth, I would have to squeeze the bottle during each feed in order for him to learn to use his tongue and push back without having a roof of the mouth. I was put in touch with Birmingham Children's Hospital and a few days after Riley was born I had a visit from a nurse who worked in the cleft department who was incredible and answered all of my questions/worries I had. Being a 20 year old single mum at the time I was extremely overwhelmed and needed as much support as possible, the hospital did just this. They explained all of the procedures Riley would endure over the years and he would be under the hospital until he is 16 years of age. They also explained Riley would have 'cleft teeth' which are prone to be small and some do not form properly, due to the gap in his nose/lip two of his teeth would be missing but after Riley has his bone graft operation when he is 8 years old they would begin the dental work.

Riley has already had two major surgeries at a young age of just 12 weeks old and 6 months old. Through the support of the hospital, family and friends we got through these tough times together and knew it was far from over but there would be no more operations for a few years. 

We had endured numerous appointments over the years at the hospital with many departments so they could monitor Riley's progress, these would be hours at a time as Riley would have to see the dentist, audiologist, speech & language department and the incredible surgeon who completed Riley's operation. I remember at the time of Riley's first surgery the surgeon made a comment to me that it was a challenge for him as it was a 14mm gap in Riley's lip, due to the teams incredible work Riley's scar is hardly noticeable and his nose has been shaped just perfectly.

I noticed over a period of time Riley's hearing deterriated  and as we went for several hearing tests, I was then told Riley would need grommets and excess fluid would need draining from his ears. Riley was 5 years when this took place, it was simple procedure but again it made us realise having a cleft isn't just a physical thing, it affected more than what we originally thought. When Riley was old enough we went through his memory box together and  I explained what he used to look like when he was born, his questions were 'why me mommy? Will my nose always be squished? Why aren't my teeth like everyone else's? How did they fix my face?'. Hearing these worries come from your child was heart breaking, I always explain to Riley he is a special kind of different and it makes him the person he is today, his face never needed 'fixing' as he was never broken in the first place.

Over the years Riley developed a huge passion for football, since he was 4 years old he was training every week. He joined a U7's team starting playing outfield for a couple of years, he then started playing as a goal keeper and he took that role on, with pleasure, his attitude was 'oh well if I get hit in the face with the ball one side of my nose is already squashed doesn't matter about the other side', now I'm not being biased as his mom but he had a real talent being a goalie and I loved being there at every match seeing him what he loved doing. 

In 2016 I had another baby boy called Callum, within seconds Riley adapted to his big brother role and they have become inseparable ever since. Callum has just turned 5 years old, the pair of them are always outside playing football together, they are always enjoying going out on adventures together and encouraging each other in anything they do. They have an unbreakable bond and Callum looks up to his big brother wanting to be just like him.

Now the time has come for Riley to have his bone graft operation, due to covid this has been put on hold for the past 12 months but we have been given a date of Friday 16th April 2021 which will take place at Birmingham's Children Hospital. This is a 2-6 hour operation, I will be able to stay overnight with him and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than right by his side. A brief explanation of the operation is that they will remove bone from Riley's hip and fill the gap in his cleft to form a 'normal gum' in order for his dental work to begin once he has recovered. Riley is extremely nervous about his upcoming operation, he is a normal 9 year old boy who is a huge Aston Villa fan, gaming, being active and being restricted of doing many things really upsets him. His hip will take time to recover and this will cause him to be bed bound for a few days. Everyone who knows Riley knows his bravery and determination when he wants to do something, he will come back stronger than ever and ready to be in a U11's team come September when the football season starts. Riley is due to have another operation in the near future as when attending Riley's yearly appointment with the hospital, the speech and language department noticed Riley is loosing too much air through his nose when speaking. As Riley has grown, his palate that he had repaired at 6 months old is slightly short and does not reach the back of his throat therefore there is a whole which is causing him to loose air through his nose, however we are focusing on one operation at a time and this bone graft will be his biggest op yet.

Back in 2015 on 7th May I completed my first ever skydive and raised £760.00 for Birmingham's Children Hospital -Cleft Department, this was an incredible experience and I was over the moon with the amount I raised and forever grateful of everyone who sponsored me. As I am currently 32 weeks pregnant with a little girl, a bungee jump was on the cards but think I will save this for another date in the future! We as a family have come up with the idea for Riley and Callum to walk/run 10,000 steps per day for 10 days reaching a total of 200,000 steps. This will begin on Friday 2nd April and ending on Monday 12th April, during the Easter holidays this will be great as a family to get behind the boys and see them working together for such a special charity so close to our hearts. They each have a Fitbit which will keep track of their daily steps so we can monitor their progress and upload pictures of each day and the final amount of steps they have completed overall on day 10! Weather depending, ideas they have come up with are bike rides, jogging, walking, obstacle courses in the garden and general exercises in the house. I will be videoing them, taking photos and me and my partner will be their number one fan supporting them all the way.

If anyone would like to donate please do so via this just giving page, if you could kindly share with family, friends, work places etc we would be so grateful and if we can get to the target of £1,000.00 it would be incredible and mean the world to us. Birmingham Children's Hospital helped Riley so much if we can give just a little back for them to help other cleft children it would be incredible. 

Thank you for taking the time to read Riley's story.

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