Gwilym is six years old and practices his ‘flat feet walking’ daily to counteract the spasticity (tightness) in his legs. Our friends and family are used to hearing us give the occasional quiet reminder to try a bit of ‘flat feet walking’ when we’re out and about. So much so, that Gwilym’s two-year-old sister, Nia, immediately responds and does the best, exaggerated comical steps. The sight of them holding hands and squealing with each ‘stomp’ always causes a giggle, but also fills this mama’s heart with immense pride!

We found out that Gwilym has mild bilateral cerebral palsy when he was just over one year old. As a premature baby, born at 27 weeks, we weren’t sure how to adjust his age for typical baby milestones and just assumed he was delayed in sitting and crawling. After his diagnosis, Gwilym’s weekly physiotherapy sessions took on even more importance, and we quickly realized we needed to be more proactive in helping him with even the simplest actions. He moved around only by crawling and needed both his hands to be held and ‘guided’ to walk until he was three and a half.

Since then, we’ve celebrated many ‘firsts’ with him during the 2020 lockdown: pushing himself into a standing position, standing on his own for a couple of seconds, which he gradually extended by a second at a time. When he started school, he was able to coast and walk a few meters between surfaces. Like thousands of others, lockdown brought an abrupt halt to Gwilym’s medical treatment, and when his NHS physiotherapy was completely stopped, we had to look elsewhere. We found a truly dedicated Strength and Conditioning Coach in Rhiannon Owens at 'SDR Rehab' in Cwmbran, who worked wonders with Gwilym and is still helping him develop the mindset of a mini athlete. He knows that practice will make him stronger and better at anything. Gwilym works hard and loves alternating between the silliness of balloon games and dancing, and the challenge of weighted sit-ups and squats.

Gwilym is now awaiting Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) surgery at Bristol Children's Hospital in September/October 2023. During this surgery, the surgeon will identify the sensory nerves within Gwilym’s spinal cord that are sending the wrong signals to his legs and causing the spasticity. Once these specific nerves are cut, Gwilym can unlearn the coping strategies he now uses to stay upright and balanced and, essentially, will need to relearn movement patterns and strengthen underused muscles. This is why specialist physiotherapy is the determining factor for the success of this once-in-a-lifetime operation. We hope that, after surgery, Gwilym's ‘flat feet walking’ can become the norm rather than requiring so much of his concentration and effort.

Gwilym’s indomitable Strength and Conditioning Coach, Rhiannon Owens, reminds us that ‘the stronger Gwilym goes into the SDR operation, the stronger he will come out.’ So, we have been fundraising since September 2022 to increase this specialist therapy and ensure he has the best preparation and post-op rehabilitation possible. All money donated will be used to pay for specialist physiotherapy.

We’ve spent the last six months feeling very grateful to our friends and family for all the amazing fundraising events that have been held for Gwilym's benefit. We initially aimed to raise £18,000 by Gwilym's 6th birthday in March 2023, which we achieved. We have been able to pay for blocks of intensive physiotherapy over the summer holiday and know we have the funds needed to start Gwilym's two years of post-surgery rehabilitation. Any further money raised will ensure that he has the best rehabilitation. We just want to thank everyone once again for all your donations—and thank you for simply getting this far and reading about our superboy!

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope in relation to this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover our core operating costs.

If we raise insufficient funds, or surplus funds, then the funds will be used, if appropriate, to fund support for our child’s needs in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objects. If in those circumstances we are unable to use all or part of the funds for the benefit of our child in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objectives, then any funds that cannot be used will be transferred to be used for the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope.