It's been a few years since I've written one of these. Since then we’ve raised over £5,000 between us for Great Ormond Street Hospital, which I will always be eternally grateful for and completely overwhelmed.

As most of you know, my little man George didn’t have the easiest of starts. Diagnosed with ‘Tetralogy of Fallots’ at 3 months old,  undergoing major open heart surgery soon after, he started life on the back foot.

…but I shouldn’t have ever doubted my little man’s strength, determination, desire, passion and love for life. In 2020, we were told by surgeons that his operation was a resounding success and his outlook on life (from a heart perspective) was overwhelmingly positive.

However I couldn’t be prepared for what was to follow...

As much of our focus was based on keeping George alive during his early years, it was becoming apparent that George wasn’t interacting with us in the same way as his other little friends and we grew increasingly concerned that those little moments of hearing “Dad”, “Mum”, “Car”, “Dog” weren't forthcoming. 

To cut a long story short we received the news quite early on that George had Level 3 Autism, the highest form of this condition on the spectrum and now at 6 years old classed as 'non verbal'. Hearing any challenging news is tough at the best of times but when it's in relation to your child, as a parent you feel completely helpless. It wasn’t the categorisation which was the hardest part but it was the realisation that you would have to prepare yourself for the strong possiblity that you may never get the chance to speak to your son.

We all take for granted to ability to say ‘hello’ or tell someone ‘I love you’  however for some this basic communication skill isn’t possible. George has only started this new battle and if it’s anything like his last, he’ll boss it in exactly the same way he did his heart but already I’ve been exposed to story after story of others who have had to battle this condition for their entire life and never had the chance to communicate feelings, thoughts, worries and concerns as I’m sure we would’ve all done in abundance already today. So this is just a little way of tryin to give back and help other families who are battling everyday with this often hidden and out of sight condition. 

I’ll be focusing all my efforts to raise money for this amazing charity who help others like George say "hello" for the first time. With the help of friends and family, I’ll be organising a number of charity sporting events throughout the year, culminating with the London marathon in 2023. 

#everystepisforyou

You'll see our team fundraising target on the right. Your donation can really help us smash this goal. 

Remember: Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never share them with anyone or send you unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. They'll make sure Gift Aid (an additional 25%) is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer, too. That means more money goes to the charity, faster, with JustGiving.