Myself and my friends are walking up Pen Y Fan to raise money to provide my nephew with the specialist care he so desperately needs. These specialist treatments and therapies are crucial at such a young age, to help Jayden get the best start in life. 

Jayden was born full term on November 4th 2021 weighing 8lb7oz. My sister had a wonderful, uncomplicated pregnancy and couldn’t wait to meet her precious boy! But when Jayden was delivered he was floppy, blue and unable to breathe. Jayden had suspected brain injury due to lack of oxygen and the decision was made to transfer him to a specialist NICU where he would receive cooling treatment. Jayden’s body was cooled to 33 degrees for 72 hours before being warmed in order to try and slow down the process that causes brain damage.

Sadly, Jayden suffered multiple seizures during this time. At 5 days old Jayden had a MRI scan which showed severe brain injury in nearly all structures of the brain. We were told he’d suffered grade 3 HIE. The consultant informed us that Jayden may not survive without intensive care, and they were unsure as to whether Jayden would be able to breathe independently. If he did survive we were told he would be severely impaired, unable to feed, suck, swallow and will need continuous care. We traveled to London from Wales to meet Jayden as the decision was made to redirect Jayden’s care to palliative care.  We held him and read him stories before his ventilator was removed at 8 days old surrounded by everyone that loved him.

But Jayden had other plans, and he continued to breathe independently. A few days later he began to feed orally and after one month he had his feeding tube removed. Jayden was discharged on December 3rd 2021.

It’s clear that Jayden will face challenges in reaching milestones which is why we  would love your support to provide specialist equipment and therapy for him to give him the best start to life. Some of these therapies include hydrotherapy, physio, ABM, conductive education and hopefully stem cell therapy. Although some equipment and therapy is available on the NHS it is very limited.

Jayden has already surpassed all of our expectations and we know that with every extra therapy session that your fundraising provides his physical and cognitive abilities improve and most importantly his quality of life. At present he is unable to sit independently, roll over or hold toys or objects in his hands for more than a couple of seconds. But we hope with therapy he will continue to defy the odds.