Hello, thank you so much for your support! We are raising funds for our Daughter, Delilah for her lifelong journey with Cerebral Palsy with a small percentage going to the brilliant charity Tree of Hope who help families like us manage and raise funds for children with disabilities.

Delilah is our miracle girl, who against all odds fought so hard to be here. After a normal healthy pregnancy, I experienced a complicated labour which resulted in a cord prolapse. This is where the umbilical cord slips under the baby's head, cutting off vital oxygen and blood to their brain.

Delilah was born via emergency C section and treated in Intensive care with something called therapeutic hypothermia where they cool her body temperature and sedate her with drugs to keep her comfortable in order to prevent any further damage to her brain.

We sat with her round the clock, reading to her, talking to her and singing to her. After 5 days she had stabilised enough that we were finally able to hold her!

Around this time an MRI scan was taken which told us the news that she had suffered severe brain damage in a small region of her brain. This was a big shock but we knew that we would do all we could to help her live the best life we possibly could.

Over the next 14 days she continued to make amazing progress and we were able to finally bring her home to begin the new chapter of our life as a family of 3… still so much unknown; both as parents for the first time and wondering what would unfold for Delilah’s future…

We noticed she wasn’t developing normally and hitting milestones like other babies and when she was 1 we received a diagnosis of dystonic Cerebral Palsy which is a neurological movement disorder that affects the muscles, coordination and balance.

Since the diagnosis we have been researching the best therapies and support for Delilah to help her as best we can to live a full and happy life.

She has absolutely amazed us with her spirit of determination and her zest for life. Everyone that meets her is won over by her big smile and cheeky personality!

Delilah is non verbal and she mainly struggles with her hands and coordination; although she uses a walker now (which she loves and is very speedy on!) she still needs a lot of help with getting about, eating, playing and transitions throughout the day.

The therapies that we have been doing and researching are geared towards helping her use her body to its fullest capacity and increasing neural pathways in the brain and learning important life skills.

Cerebral Palsy is a lifelong condition and has no magic ‘cure’ but the therapies she can access will absolutely help her to live more fully and we hope one day she be able to live as independently as possible.

Most therapies are quite expensive and so our funds will go towards all related costs until she is 18.

Therapies and equipment we are currently exploring are:

Neuromovement- a movement based therapy designed to create neural pathways and encourage spontaneous movement through positive reinforcement.

Conductive Education - a holistic therapy system including physio, speech and language and play therapy.

Hippotherapy - horse based physio

Hydrotherapy - water based therapy

Aids for the home like a specialised bath, seating, rails.

Adaptive toys, bikes and equipment as she gets older.

The Charity Tree of Hope manage all our funds - we cannot access them personally. This ensures every pound goes towards Delilah.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support!

Love, Zoe and Dave

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope through this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover core operating costs. If insufficient or surplus funds are raised, they will be used to support Delilah’s needs in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objectives.

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