Salem Potts

Salem Edgar, or Lemmy as we call him, was born six weeks premature after a placental abruption. It was a very traumatic experience, and both Salem and I are very lucky to be here.

From the moment I first got to hold him, I knew something was different. It took 18 months of fighting for my voice to be heard. I was even told that my concerns about cerebral palsy were most likely caused by PTSD. However, after a lot of fighting, an MRI scan finally confirmed Salem’s diagnosis of bilateral spastic cerebral palsy. This affects his mobility, cognitive development, and vision. He is also on the autistic pathway.

Salem is the happiest, funniest little boy, and he’s incredibly brave. He’s had to fight so hard—coming home from the hospital with sepsis at 2 weeks old, undergoing squint surgery on his eyes, and working so hard to acquire skills that come more easily to others. We could not be prouder of his determination! Salem currently uses a Kaye walker to get around, and our hope is that, with continued intensive therapies, we will be able to get him to take some independent steps. He is so desperate to be able to copy his big brother running around.

We have been working very hard to give Salem every opportunity we can while he’s young and his brain is still developing. We currently attend private physio weekly and also participate in frequent, intense sessions where he attends every day for 2 weeks at a time. Salem also does acupuncture weekly, which leaves him much happier and more relaxed. He always gives us a big sigh and tells us, “That feels better,” so we know it’s helping!

Currently, as Lemmy is unable to walk unaided, we are in limbo with wheelchair services and are looking into specialist buggies, which we will be funding ourselves. We hope that we can raise enough to purchase him a buggy and also help fund his continued therapies.

Salem has taught me to be brave. I feel like I have grown so much because of him, and he has taught me so much in such a short time. We want to do everything we possibly can to help ensure he continues to thrive, and having people’s support to do this means the absolute world to us!!

We would use donations for the following purposes:

- Purchase a specialist buggy for Salem

- Continue with as much physiotherapy as we can

- Pay for a disabled parking bay outside our home

- Purchase any other equipment that may be required as he grows

- Buy any other things that will help in the day-to-day care of a child with a disability

- Fund travel costs for treatments

- We appreciate any donation or sharing of our page.

7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope in relation to this appeal will be allocated to the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope to cover our core operating costs.

If we raise insufficient funds, or surplus funds, they will be used, if appropriate, to fund support for our child’s needs in accordance with Tree of Hope’s charitable objectives. If, in those circumstances, we are unable to use all or part of the funds for the benefit of our child, any funds that cannot be used will be transferred to be used for the general charitable purposes of Tree of Hope.