Elisa's Woodbridge 10k, London Vitality 10k & Great South Run page
Elisa Bostock is raising money for Tree of Hope
Story
Fundraising for Xanthe.....
When My daughter India began School nearly 2 years ago I met a very bright and bubbly mother of 3, the 3rd being Otto who turned out to be in India’s year. Otto has 2 older siblings, Milo and Xanthe. Whenever I chit chatted (as mothers do) to Jessie their lovely Mum The first thing I was struck by was her super fun nature and extremely positive outlook towards everyone around her. As I got to know Jessie I would learn more about her and her husband Hugo’s second child Xanthe and what happened to her at only 9 months old. This is their story.....
Please click on the link to watch their video or read their story below....
"Xanthe is now 11 years old, but when she was just 9 months old she contracted pneumococcal meningitis and suffered a major stroke as a result of it. She was critically ill and spent 3 weeks in intensive care on a life support machine, but in typical style, she battled through and is now having to manage and cope with the devastating after effects of her illness.
Xanthe is hemiplegic (weakness down her right side due to stroke damage) and is learning to walk with a kaye walker (see photo's). She travelled to St Louis, USA, in October 2016, for specialist surgery to her heel cords and hamstring muscles, which were very tight due to her stroke damage.
Amazingly, she is also learning, and starting to talk now despite the brain damage that she sustained after the meningitis. Xanthe has proved that she is a true fighter , and is making amazing progress due to all the 1:1 therapy sessions that she is having, all of which are funded by your very kind and generous donations.
As a result of her illness, Xanthe has global development delay which means that she is very behind in her learning compared to her peer group.Unfortunately she also developed chronic epilepsy which has been a nightmare for her and us all. Drugs haven't been able to manage these, and no amount of therapy can change the onset and changes in her seizures. She has these every few hours, every day, and every night. Life can be very tough for Xanthe as a result.
Xanthe's epilepsy makes learning that much harder for her which means that it takes longer and she needs as much 1:1 support as we can give her.
It is heartbreaking to watch them.
Everything that is fund-raised for Xanthe goes towards 1:1 Physiotherapy, Conductive Education and Speech and Language therapy; and equipment that the NHS won't fund. Xanthe only gets 2 hours of therapy per term from NHS therapists due to the cuts, so 1:1 private therapy is the only way for her to really progress.
We are so grateful that you have taken time to read about our fighter of a daughter, who we are determined should be able to access as much of the day to day activities that her friends do.
Whatever you can donate is fantastic, but as always, the more noughts, the more we can do for and with her and the less we have to ask!
With huge thanks,
Hugo and Jessie Carter (Daddy and Mummy!)”
So as you can imagine I was fairly speechless. Their story no doubt touches the hearts of many but their weekly challenges are costly yet essential for Xanthe’s development which by the way is incredible and I have no doubt that she has been given huge amounts of strength and determination from the loving family she has around her. But what could I do to help I thought?....well anyone who knows me knows I run a fair bit. So I thought why not channel it and run for a good cause.
I shall be taking part in two 10k races within 8 days starting this Sunday with the Woodbridge 10k, followed by the London 2018 Vitality 10k - through the streets of London and then the Great South Run come October.
All three will be in aid of Xanthe so please have a watch of her story and be so kind as to sponsor me and help raise funds for this incredible girl. She always has a smile at the school gates and a super fun outlook much like her lovely Mum and Dad and they all inspire me everyday. Xanthe has come so far in just the two years I have known her so it’s so important to keep the support up so that she can keep improving her quality of life. Thankyou Xanthe and your family for the inspiration - your strength will drive me forward through the miles - hopefully I can
make it count for you.
Hugo, Jessie, Milo, Xanthe and Otto - you are one amazing team! 💪🏼🙏⭐️
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.