Team William

Dea friends,   Many of you are already aware of the journey me and my son William have been on over the last 2 years, but for those that don't, here we go: 0n 17th May 2012 at 6:55am, William James Mathew Simpson was born into our world.  Although he was 3 weeks early and was an emergency C section baby due to lack of movement in the womb, we left the hospital thinking things were fine and dandy and I couldn't have been happier with my beautiful boy.  Like all other mothers I had dreamt about all the milestones I was going to cherish; first smiles, first words, first steps, who will he play with, who will he marry, how many grandchildren will he give me etc.... I had five blissful months with William completely unaware of how our lives were about to be turned upside down... William was having an afternoon nap and as usual I crept into his room to check on him.  To my horror I found him having a terrible fit and we were subsequentyl rushed into hospital.  The fit lasted for 63 minutes and as such he was close to be induced into a coma.  You don't have to be a doctor to realise this is not a good situation.  To spare you too much painful detail, the months that followed included MRI's, lumber punctures, EEG's and many hospital visits - all the while the fitting continued and increased.  Eventually after much emotional turmoil and conflicting information we were told that William had the following conditions due to Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) which is a condition in which the brain does not recieve enough oxygen.  This happened I now found out, either just before or during his birth: Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy - meaning all 4 limbs are affected by the condition Severe Epilepsy - severe seizures Hydrocephalus - a build up of too much fluid in the brain which leads to man other disabilities (convusions, visual impairment, mental disabilities and much more) Global development delay - all cognitive, motor and social and emeotional skills along wth speech and language To put this into context I would like to now tell you about the person, my William rather than just throwing medical terms at you: William is now 2 years and 8 months.  He is unable to hold his head up, crawl, walk, roll, sit, chew, speak or coordinate his movements unattended.  He is getting longer and heavier by the day and he is unable to move around himself and spends his das either in m arms or in a speciall designed chair.  He can't be left unattended for a second as he is constantly trying to bite his hands.  If he happens to catch his fingers in his mouth as his hand waves past his head, he clamps down with his teeth so hard that he cuts the skin and clamps down on the bone.  His brain does not send the message to release his teeth as although he feels the pain he is unaware that it is himself casing it.  This leads to injure and upset and if he cries for a period of time it is likely his temperature will rise and we are then at risk of inducing a fit. William is not a lost cause.  Those that know him will know that he interacts very knowing using his eyes and his beautiful smile.  He chatters away in William speak and it isn't difficult to understand when he is happy or distressed.  It is the knowing that there is a little boy behind those eyes that makes me determined to use all the facilities available to ensure he had the best quality of life possible.  Unfortunately, as a single mother, unable to work as my sons need for me is constant and forever, my ability to pay for the care he needs (as NHS does not) is limited.  I do what I can and when William sleeps I make and sell cards and gifts to add to the funds.  I do as many car boots as i can to try and provide the best physiotherepy but at a cost of £6000 per year it is a constant struggle without an income or a spouse. We are very lucky though to have a wonderful network of friends and family who always do their best to help wherever possible which leads me to the point of my message. Please support Team William as a group of friends perform the feats of Tough Mudder.  The are prepared to quite literally put themselves through gruelling hell (including electrocuation) in the hope that you lovely people will feel it in your hearts to donate to our cause - please follow this link to view the videos of the course https://toughmudder.co.uk/mudder-nation/videos   The money we raise will pay for Willaims private phsiotherepy designed to treat children like him with severe celebral palsy.  They aim to train the brain differently to enable him to perform the everday tasks that you and I take forgranted.  More than anthing else as William grows I would like to think that he will have some kind of independance and some level of dignity.  Over to you guys, thanks very much for reading. Love, Sam & Willaim xx P.S. - if anone wants to cheer on Team Willaim, Tough Mudder is on 31st May at Boughton House and there will be an after party to show our appreciation to the team at the Fiddlers Elbow in Wellingborough