On the 9th November, me, my sisters Clare and Kirsty and our honorary 4th sister Cherise will be doing a 10 mile hike around the Peak District to raise money for the charity ‘A Bear Named Buttony’

I’m aware most people won’t have come across these but here’s how we’ve ended up being supported by Buttony the Bear.

In February 2023 our son Otis was born and was unable to pass stool which led to him being in intensive care from birth. He was diagnosed with a rare bowel disease called Hirschsprung's which affects the intestines leaving a section that effectively doesn’t work. Luckily we recognised the symptoms quickly as my nephew Casey also had Hirchsprungs since birth, like Casey Otis had surgery to repair his bowel at 8 weeks old and since then has been a happy, healthy little boy.

Fast forward to June 2024, our 3 year old son Carter was struggling to potty train after 3 years of chronic constipation, he was quickly referred due to his genetic link to Otis and within weeks was diagnosed with Hirschsprung’s disease too. Due to the damage caused to Carters bowel from having 3 years with no diagnosis, we were told Carter would need a Colostomy bag in just a few weeks time.

The hardest part of all of this news was knowing that at 3 years old Carter wouldn’t understand what was going to happen to him, even his surgeon asked ‘how are we going to get him to understand what’s going to happen?’

After researching I realised there wasn’t much out there to help until I came across the charity ‘A Bear Named Buttony’. We received a bear with a changable stoma and a story book about Buttony the bear who went through the treatment at hospital.

Straight away Carter was asking for the book every night and would sit changing the bears bag at bedtime, by the time the surgery came around he was completely aware of what a stoma (or button!) was for and why people have them. One night during the week of the surgery I explained that he was going to have a button just like his bear and he understood. So much so that when I was walking into the operating theatre with Carter, he asked me ‘Mummy am I going to get my button now?’

I can’t begin to explain how much this charity has helped Carter and us with coming to terms with everything and relieving some of the stress Carter would have felt before and after surgery. What they do is truly special.

It costs the charity £30 to make one bear so anything we can do to help other boys and girls who are getting their new stoma’s like Carter will make such a difference xx

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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