Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Fund-raising to help a very special family raise as much money as possible for their son Oscar.

We all completed it :)

Well done Michelle Donoghue, Stacey carsberg, Clare Howard and Karyn Campbell. Extra congratulations to Liz McEwan and Michelle Behn who finished 5/6.

Oscar's story is below in his mum's words:

Our beautiful son, Oscar Roger Griffiths, was born on 11.10.2013. Due to complications during birth, Oscar suffered severe lack of oxygen to the brain and required resuscitation following an emergency Caesarian. Oscar was placed on life support for the first 5 days of his life and transferred to a specialist neo natal unit who provided cooling treatment for 72 hours to limit the extent of his brain damage. During this time Oscar showed no sign of life - he had no reflexes and his EEG showed almost no brain activity, he had never even opened his eyes. After being told by our doctor we were 'prolonging his suffering', my partner and I made the heart breaking decision to allow doctors to remove our sons life support. We ran into a private room with Oscar wrapped in a blanket and cuddled him in what we believed were to be his final moments. We told Oscar how much we loved him and cried as we said our goodbyes. To our astonishment and delight, Oscar kept on breathing all on his own with the occasional gasp and coo. We waited one hour and then two before bringing in our family who sat with us and Oscar, in that little cold room all night making sure he continued to breath. Come morning, it was clear that Oscar fully intended to live his life and we will never give up on him again.

Nothing is ever easy for Oscar. The extent of his brain damage literally affects all aspects of his life, it was two weeks before he first opened his eyes. Oscar is unable to swallow, he regularly chokes, he has moderate hearing loss and cannot control movement in his limbs. Oscar's official diagnosis is severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Oscar stayed in hospital for the first 9 weeks of his life whilst me and my partner were trained on how to look after his complex needs and necessary medical equipment was delivered home. We also had to allow for carers to be arranged to look after Oscar through the night at home.

Since coming home, Oscar has continued to amaze us. He is still unable to sit unaided, swallow or use his limbs but he has a strong mind and he is clear on what he does and doesn't enjoy. He has had numerous hospital re-admittance and twice required to be ventilated to save his life but every time Oscar comes back stronger.

The sad truth is the NHS resources are limited and their main course of support for Oscar is physiotherapy and symptom management. We have undertaken research to look at alternative but effective methods to help actually improve Oscar's quality of life but these therapies are not cheap! In August 2014, we started The Scotson Technique. The Scotson Technique teaches us exercises to help strengthen Oscar's respiratory system which was greatly affected during his birth. Since beginning this treatment, Oscar has been his most stable since birth, his breathing is stronger, he is more alert and his general health has greatly improved. Seeing such wonderful changes in just 11 weeks make me very optimistic as to how much this treatment will continue to help Oscar in future. The majority of the funds we are looking to raise will go towards this treatment which is recommended for a minimum of three years. The other treatment we are looking to fund is Neuro Muscular Electronic Stimulation. Whilst this treatment is widely used in the USA, there appears to be only one company offering this treatment in the U.K. This treatment aims to strengthen the swallow and suck muscles to assist Oscar to learn to swallow which is vital to help Oscar lead a normal life without us constantly suctioning him.

Every day with Oscar is a blessing and we are determined to do our best to help him progress in life. Any funds raised will help us provide the treatment Oscar needs to achieve this.