As many of you know, our daughter Francesca was diagnosed antenatally with a very rare condition called bladder exstrophy.

This is where the pelvis does not fuse properly in utero and the bladder grows outside of the body as a result. Bladder exstrophy affects roughly 1 in 40,000 children and is only managed by 2 specialist teams in the UK - the closest to us being the phenomenal team at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Frankie underwent significant surgery earlier this year to fuse her pelvis and re-implant her bladder where it should be (she also finally got a belly button in the process!). Following this, we stayed at RMCH as a family for 4 weeks and it now feels like a home away from home. Everyone who cared for us, from our amazing consultant to all of the staff on ward 77, were amazing and we will forever be indebted to them and the quality of life they have given our girl.

Frankie will continue to be under the team well into adulthood and who knows what treatment the future holds but she has amazed us all so far and nothing is going to stop her!

This November we are taking part in the MFT Lantern Walk to raise money for RMCH and the amazing work they do for children and families like ours. They have changed our lives for the better and we hope any money we can raise will continue to do that for many, many more families!