I want to walk!” is something our friends daughter Maeve says quite often. When she says it, she means she wants one of us to take her by the hands and help her walk or, even better, jump. Because she can’t stand unsupported, or walk, let alone jump, on her own. But we’re hopeful that one day that will change.

Maeve was born on 19 August, 2013, two months before her due date. Weighing just 3lbs 13 and three quarter ounces, her unexpected arrival meant she needed the attention of the Special Care Baby Unit. Thanks to their care and in no small part to her feisty character, Maeve made it out 3 weeks later to take up her place at home.

Fast forward to around nine months and it became apparent Maeve wasn’t hitting some developmental milestones, most noticeably she couldn’t sit up unsupported. Maeve had an MRI scan that revealed brain damage leading to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

For any family, having a disabled child isn’t something you expect. The news is pretty devastating initially and there come with it great worry for the future. Simple things, previously taken for granted with Maeve’s older brother, like using public transport, going to a child's party or visiting the playground, become daunting challenges. It necessitates a change in perspective and makes apparent the daily struggles many people face.

But Maeve and her family are not ones to be cowed in the face of adversity, and her parents tell me it is Maeve who has taught them to cope through these challenges. Maeve, her brother Magnus, her Mum Sian and Dad Pete have made enormous sacrifices and showed the most tremendous amount of determination in their pursuit to best enable Maeve. In turn Maeve has shown great courage in engaging with the many and increasingly difficult challenges she is set, always with that wicked sense of humour on show.

And their hard work has paid off. She’s made amazing progress so far – with the help of her Kaye walker she can get around, provided surfaces are relatively flat and smooth, she is learning how to walk with sticks, which will allow her to access places she can’t currently get to with her walker and very recently she has taken some wobbly but independent steps with her physio. It’s all a big challenge and leaves her very tired. A little while ago they took delivery of her first wheelchair, which she will need to be able to manage at school. It was a bittersweet experience for her family, but she’s very pleased with it and for now, it gives her more independence than the pushchair that she’s rapidly becoming too big for.

But we don’t want Maeve to have to rely on a wheelchair – there’s an operation called selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) that could give her the best chance of walking on her own. The procedure is not currently available on the NHS and, combined with the required physio as Maeve re-learns how to move after the surgery, it will cost a lot of money. Which is why we’re asking for help through Tree of Hope fundraising.

None of us can know what the future holds for Maeve, but together we can support her, to put one foot in front of the other, step by step, day by day, so that we she can ultimately fulfil her potential to be as mobile as possible.

And so by putting one foot in front of another, step by step and day by day, we merry bunch will be training for and running a Magical Marathon for Maeve - the New Forest Marathon on the 9th September 2018.