Our Amazing son Oscar was born prematurely at 28 weeks. He was very poorly and was not expected to survive. Oscar had numerous health issues and infections whilst in NICU and it was an extremely worrying and scary time. However, in spite of the odds and the many setbacks, he gradually improved and became stronger and we brought him home three months later.

As Oscar grew older we noticed that he was not reaching milestones as expected. He had an MRI Scan and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy with Cystic Periventricular Leukomalacia. This affects all four of his limbs. Oscar is unable to walk, sit, stand, crawl and does not have full control of his head. Oscar also has epilepsy, a cortical visual impairment and an unsafe swallow which means he is unable to eat and drink orally and therefore he is fully gastrostomy fed a blended diet. Oscar needs full support with ALL aspects of daily life. Oscar is non-verbal but is a very clever young man who understands everything that is going on and is capable of achieving great things with the right help and support.

Oscar had life changing SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) surgery at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in June 2021, which has meant he no longer has as much spasticity in his legs and we have been able to significantly reduce one of his medications which we feel was hindering his ability to learn due to its side effects.

We are trying to raise funds for Just4Children so that Oscar can continue to access specialist therapies, activities and specialist equipment to help him progress as he gets older, to help him reach his full potential and give him a better quality of life.

We are hoping to raise funds towards an Eye Gaze device so Oscar can communicate his wants and needs and also control his environment independently. This is especially important to help Oscar communicate with people who he does not know well and who don’t know him. Oscar currently communicates using an E-Tran frame, symbols, facial expressions, looking left for ‘yes’ and right for ‘no’ and vocalisations. An Eye Gaze device would open up Oscar’s World.

We also hope to raise funds towards a motor for Oscar’s manual wheelchair as now he is getting older he is getting heavier and more difficult to push when out and about.

Despite having many challenges and going through more things medically in his 14 years than most people do in a lifetime, Oscar is a beautiful and happy young man who is our absolute World. He has the most amazing cheeky personality, a wicked sense of humour and infectious laugh. He loves spending time with family and friends, listening to music, being outside.

Please help us help Our Amazing Oscar.