Fred's Quest - Every Move Matters

Meet our handsome little superhero, Fred!

Fred made a speedy entrance into the world on December 9th, 2020, unexpectedly arriving 6 and a half weeks early.

After a difficult birth experience, our premature bundle of joy spent his first 15 days in NICU. During this time, we had many ups and downs, taking one step forward and two steps back. No two days were the same! It was even harder as it was during COVID, and we couldn't spend any time together with Fred until we were able to bring him home on Christmas Eve, tube feeding. It was the best Christmas present we could have ever wished for.

We will forever be grateful to the Neonatal Unit at Ipswich Hospital for all the care, love, and support they gave not only Fred but us too.

It was then that our journey really began! As Fred was growing stronger and stronger, we were doing all the "first-time parent" things with him to help his development. But it wasn’t long before we noticed he wasn’t meeting the "milestones." So, we decided to get him seen early for his 1-year review, and thank goodness we did! From then on, Fred was seen by many different medical professionals, underwent scans and tests, and had numerous appointments.

At 14 months old, our little Fredbear was diagnosed with Suspected Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy. At the time, this didn’t come as a shock, as I had done a lot of research during Fred's first year of life.

Today, Fred is a very happy, cheeky 4-year-old who loves life, swimming, and chocolate buttons! He has a diagnosis of Bilateral Cerebral Palsy with Spasticity, High Muscle Tone, Global Development Delay, Dystonia, and a full chromosome deletion of XP22.2 (which is extremely rare, and we were told only 3 people in the world are recorded as missing this chromosome).

We would love for our little Fred to have a trike to help him learn to walk. The motion of cycling is very similar to walking, and the repetition will help his muscle memory with this action.

Alongside this, we would love the opportunity to take Fred to swimming therapy, which is based in Lanzarote. This intensive week of therapy takes place in a heated pool with professional physiotherapists. The results of people we've seen and read about who have had this therapy are incredible, and we would love Fred to experience it.

Any donation for our beautiful little Fredbear is hugely appreciated. Every bit makes such a difference!

We're hoping to raise around £5,000 for the intensive therapy week in Lanzarote, a specialized trike (which we have now been quoted at £1,925), and private physiotherapy sessions, which cost £75 for an hour and a half.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read Fred's story. Let's get our little dude on the move!

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 core operating costs.

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