We are once again raising money for the amazing Owen McVeigh Foundation in memory of our beautiful little boy, Maxwell.

Our son Maxwell was born on the 26th of January 2023, full of smiles and giggles and fitted in to our lives perfectly - he was our missing piece and we couldn't have been happier.

We had 5 whole months of baby bubble bliss with Max, until our world fell apart.

In June 2023, over a period of 10 days Maxwell became more and more unwell. We had a few GP appointments and visited Whiston children’s A&E to try and find out what was wrong with him. We were told - all babies vomit - it’s allergies - it’s reflux- it’s a virus - it will pass! But we knew something wasn’t right and so kept taking him back. On the final visit to Whiston A&E they agreed to do a CT scan. We were told after this scan that a shadow could be seen on his brain, and we had to go straight to Alder Hey Hospital. An ambulance was ready to take us and a neurosurgical team had been prepped to meet us on arrival.

On 28th June 2023 he was admitted to the HDU late in the evening. We were told if they hadn’t have found it that day, he may not have survived the night.

An MRI scan confirmed the presence of a brain tumour and an immediate plan was set to have an external ventricular drain fitted to relieve the hydrocephalus symptoms and later a 12 hour operation to remove as much of the brain tumour as possible.

Unfortunately, The nightmare continued when the tumour taken from Maxwell was diagnosed as an aggressive form of cancer called an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumor on the 11th of July 2023.

The 7 months that followed are the worst of our lives. An absolute emotional nightmare. We are naturally positive people though, and we embraced the hope that Max might get better, or hope that we might have longer together as a family than we were being advised. He had numerous procedures in the months that followed including 3 rounds of chemotherapy.

We lived at Alder Hey and Ronald McDonald house for the majority of the summer/ autumn of 2023.

In November 2023, we were told the news that we had been dreading - the treatment was not working and Max would not survive this cancer.

He was looked after by the palliative care team and we were advised we had weeks left at best with Max. We set out to make this time as special as possible.

The support of Mark and Jo and everyone at the Owen McVeigh Foundation has kept us going during the darkest of times.

They jumped straight into action, arranging for us to have a fake Christmas at the Foundation's ‘Peacock Lodge’ as we didn’t think Max would make it to the end of December.

We crammed in a lot during those weeks and those special memories dearly.

Max being a true fighter, was with us for longer than expected - seeing Christmas and even his first birthday in January 2024.

Sadly our hearts were broken forever on 10th February 2024 when Maxwell passed away at home cuddled into his mummy’s arms.

We can’t thank this charity enough for the support and the wonderful memories they helped to create for us and Maxwell’s big brother Austen.

What they arrange for children fighting cancer, and their families, are activities and experiences that are truly memorable and we are forever grateful.

As a parent in the situation we were, we just didn't have the mental capacity to make these plans. Mark was even on hand to support the planning of Maxwell's funeral - absolutely above and beyond.

Even now since we lost Maxwell the charity are there for us and continue to support us in the most amazing ways. We can’t thank them enough.

We want to raise money for the Owen McVeigh Foundation so that families, who have been dealt a horrendous hand like we were, have the chance to make memories and find joy together.

So please donate what you can, I know we have asked before but you have no idea just how special this charity is for children with cancer and their families.

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Flying through the clouds from over 10,000 ft at up to 120mph?! We are looking for thrill-seeking fundraisers from all over the country to take on a sponsored freefall parachute jump on our behalf whilst raising invaluable funds for our Charity!

This exciting challenge is for one day only! This will take place at Black Knights Parachute Centre in Cockerham Lancaster.

Without the support of charitable donations from our fantastic supporters, we could not do what we do for children suffering from cancer from the Merseyside area.

Your help and fundraising is vital in helping us continue our work. Please contact info@owenmcveighfoundation.co.uk for further information or to ask any questions. Thank you.