Our son, Theo, was born with a duplex kidney and a ureterocele on his left side. This has meant that, from birth, he has been under the care of Birmingham Children's Hospital Urology department, and had to undergo various consultations, scans and surgery to help solve the issue. Theo has been amazing throughout, continuing to laugh, wriggle around, and help the staff by holding the leads when they perform his many scans! He is now due to go for further surgery within the next couple of months as the first operation performed when he was 6 months old has been unsuccessful. Throughout the entire time he has been under the care of Birmingham Children's Hospital Theo, and El and I, have received nothing but amazing treatment and support. 

This care has extended beyond the Urology department. We have had various visits to the A&E department, due to the higher than usual risk of infection that Theo has because of his condition, where we have had to make visits in case that “typical" child bug was in fact due to something a bit more serious. The help and support we have received through the A&E department was also further appreciated when Theo recently managed to get hold of a boiling cup of tea. This caused horrible burns and the Birmingham Children's Hospital A&E, and Burns department, were the teams on hand to help patch him up and provide support to us all through a very emotional time.

Theo is now 16 months old and you would not know from his bubbly, cheeky, happy nature of any of the things he has experienced so far. Both Theo and our family have a lot to thank the Birmingham Children's Hospital for and that is the reason I have decided to take on the Abseil challenge. Although it will never fully re-pay the care that we have received, I hope to try and give a little back. We are so so grateful for everything Birmingham Children’s Hospital have done, and continue to do, for Theo, and other families like ours. Thank you!