Team Oliver is raising funds for the incredible charity UNIQUE who provide support, information and networking to families affected by rare chromosome and gene disorders. This is the first time we have raised money for UNIQUE and it’s that bit more special as Oliver’s cousins Charlie, Alfie and Harry want to run/walk it with him too.

The charity explain their work as - Imagine having a baby, realising something is wrong and then receiving a diagnosis of a chromosome or gene disorder only to be told by the doctors that they don’t know what the future holds and can’t answer your many questions. 

Unique is on hand to help but only because of the donations and brilliant fundraising efforts of their friends and supporters.  They provide specialist information and support to families coming to terms with the diagnosis and to the medical professionals caring for them - often the only place families can turn to for help.

Oliver struggled developmentally from birth and was finally diagnosed at two with a rare chromosome disorder - a complex condition that has no name just a jumble of letters and numbers 19q.13.42-43 - we had no idea of what was ahead of us or the challenges we would face. 

His Genetic consultant handed us a leaflet about UNIQUE and suggested we contact them for support.  Through UNIQUE’s database we found out that there is only one other little boy in Europe with Oliver’s chromosome deletion and we were put in touch with the family to share our experiences. The team at UNIQUE were amazing
and we realised that we were not alone. 

Oliver’s ‘rare journey’, like so many of these UNIQUE children, has involved and will continue to involve the support and care of multi-disciplinary medical teams.  We have had incredible support over the years from Physio’s, OT’s, Speech Therapists, Neurologists, Orthotics and some fantastic paediatricians. When so much is the unknown, touching base with UNIQUE, for advice and information, and learning about other families’ challenges, experiences and achievements has been a huge support.

Oliver is very excited about the walk and helping other children and their families. Oliver didn’t take his first steps until he was 2 and a half due to low tone all over his body and extreme ankle distortion. After years of physio he was off walking in his orthopaedic boots and Lego themed ankle splints. This event is a massive milestone.

If you can support the charity UNIQUE and other children like Oliver on their unique journey we would be very grateful.

Many thanks

Team Oliver