*Sponsored by Summit Chiropractic Hemel Hempstead*

Sunday 8th June (1pm - 3pm)

Pouchen End Lane, Hemel Hempstead, HP1 2SN

Rico is 21 months old and we are raising money to pay for specialist Physiotherapy to help him roll, reach, sit up and maybe even crawl.

Entry Fee is £10 per child (Adults go Free)

Please make a donation to this page with the relevant amount and ensure you put your name so you can just give your name on the door on the day!

Ticket Entry will give you:

Free Parking and Entry to the site

Entertainment (disco, magic show, alpacas)

Squash and Snacks

(Bring your own picnic if you wish!)

Bring extra cash as there will also be:

*Face Painting

*Sweetie Lucky Dip

*Raffle

Raffle Prizes so far include:

* x2 Adult tickets to Willow's Farm, St Albans

* £50 gift voucher to Groovy Style Baby, Northchurch

* £20 COOK Voucher

* 30 mins massage at Cecily Day Spa Berkhamsted

Look forward to seeing you there!

Thanks so much for your support.

This therapy will be life-changing for Rico. Rico suffered a brain injury at birth and has Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy and Cortical Visual Impairment - he is defying the odds and persevering with everything life is throwing at him. We just want to give him the best chance at working around the injury and learning how to move.

Read Rico's full story below:

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Rico was born full term in August 2023 after a normal pregnancy. I noticed reduced kicking one day and remembering the message of the amazing charity KicksCount to always get yourself checked if worried, I went in and upon doing just that, the hospital confirmed Rico was suffering from lack of oxygen and blood-flow to the brain. I was completely alone, rushed into theatre, put to sleep, and Rico was born via an extremely fast emergency c-section. Rico was born not breathing and needed 6 minutes of resuscitation. Following a devastating brain scan we were told to bring our family in and say goodbye as the damage was too severe and Rico was not expected to survive. The life support was turned off. To this day the cause is unknown. However soon after, Rico started breathing independently, feeding and moving. We brought him home after 3 weeks where we were told to “wait and see” what happens with his development. The NHS's approach is to let problems happen and then treat them as and when they arise.

However brain research has proven that early intervention is crucial in the early months and years of life and neuroplasticity (the brains ability to rewire itself and work around the existing damage creating new neural connections) has the most potential in the first couple of years. But it has to happen early and one of the most efficient ways is via lots of physiotherapy and other alternative therapies.

The wonderful NHS has given us basic assessments and therapies but there is so much more out there to help Rico and his brain development. For the first year we funded both alternative therapies and essential treatments ourselves (specialist physiotherapy, cranial osteopathy, ABM therapy, chiropractor sessions, ophthalmology and ENT assessments) but the funds are now running out. So we are raising funds however we can to pay for more physiotherapy and help Rico's brain to rewire itself. He isn't yet rolling or crawling but has come so far already and seems to fight every hurdle presented to him.

Rico has already been diagnosed with Epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy. Global Development Delay and Cortical Vision Impairment. All we want to do is give him the best chance possible to learn and improve and reach his potential. His seizures are under control, his vision and hearing seem to be developing, and he is 100% orally fed and being weaned onto solids slowly. There are so many positives! We hope there will be more.

Thank you so much for reading. Rico is so loved at home by Mummy, Daddy and big brother Rafa and we appreciate the support so far from all our family, friends and loved ones.

xxx