Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I have tried to keep brief the reason why I am asking for sponsorship,

 

On the 5.12 2008 our first child was born, it was a boy, weighing 6lbs, he was named George Harvey Shakespeare after Corinne(my wife) late great grandfather.

Nine months later George was diagnosed with a head condition called Metopic synostosis This means that the metopic suture of the skull was fused at birth. He needed reconstructive surgery on his skull in order to correct this problem otherwise as he grew and his skull wouldn't, it would put pressure on the brain which would not only result in his appearance been abnormal but difficulties with speech, learning and developing. This affects 1 in 5,000 children born.

 

George had major head surgery to correct this probelm at The Childrens Hospital in Birmingham on the 29th June, it was a very serious complex 6 hour procedure which involved a Crainofacial surgeon, Plastic surgeon and a Neuro surgeon and a team of 15 specialist nurses.

We also knew that he had to have the operation but we also knew that there was a chance the operation could go wrong, causing blindess or brain damage,  a small risk but still a risk. The worst 6 hours of our lives!!

The operation was a success, the surgeons were pleased with  the surgery, it was now about how long it would take for George to recover. Health wise he was excellent but he had awful swelling aroung the eyes, it took 3 days for the swelling to go down and enable George to see again. As soon as he could open his eyes he was up and running all over the ward and causing havoc what a recovery!!

 

The three us walked out of Birmingham Children Hospital on Saturday 3rd July and went home

 

I said to myself during that week they I needed to raise money for the ward, I must do my least favorite acivity, running, so along with my brother Paul we have entered the Birmingham half marathon,it takes place on October the 24th. for the last 3 months I have been getting up a 6am and hitting the streets, its no fun especially if the kids have kept me up all night, the knees are just about standing up to the pressure.

The money raised will go towards purchasing new equpiment, for ward 10 the nurses made a point that new equipment was required so I have set myself a goal to raise £5,000 which would buy them a new monitor.

The team that  took care of Geroge were amazing, not only are they responsible for taking care of the children but then they have to deal with the over anixous parents. They could not do enough for us, we will always be very grateful and never forget any of them

That week in hospital was life changing for us and we realised just how lucky we are, there were children in there ,much younger than George that were going to have life long problems and face several future operations and also children that had been in there for months and months. We were inspired by how positive and strong the other parents were.

 

If you can help in any way by making a donation Paul & I would be very grateful, it will go towards helping an amazing ward full of deciated and inspirational people and show our appreciation for the procedure they have been able to carry out on George to give him a normal lifestyle.

 

Thanks for taking the time in reading our page, I have attached a small collection of photo's, to show you the process of change George has been through since June, you won't be able to see the shape of George's head on the first but you may notice how close he eyes were to each other.

 

he is doing fantastic, typical boy, we do hold our breathe every time he falls over and bangs his head, and he is showing signs of playing for Aston Villa

 

Simon and Paul (Team George)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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