Jack Smith - Jacks SDR Journey

Jack is 6 years old. He was born at 30 weeks and has cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Jack’s cerebral palsy causes his legs to have spasticity, which leads to a lot of pain and discomfort. The spasticity has also caused his hips to dislocate on three occasions, resulting in painful hip surgeries. He is a full-time wheelchair user but has great strength in his arms. The hope is that with SDR surgery, we can prevent further hip dislocations, improve his comfort, and enhance his mobility.

Jack never fails to make everyone smile. He has a great sense of humor and loves to sing and pretend he is a coach on The Voice. He adores his siblings and shares a special bond with his older brother, who also has cerebral palsy. They attend many appointments together and undergo physiotherapy side by side.

Jack’s dream is to be able to go on a bouncy castle standing up rather than lying down. Although SDR isn’t a guarantee to get Jack walking, we believe that, given the opportunity, Jack will put his all into reaching his full potential, whatever that may be. We have high hopes that SDR will be a step in the right direction. SDR has the potential to be life-changing for Jack.

No matter what, Jack has a fantastic army of friends and family backing him all the way. We are confident we can help Jack achieve some level of independence and reduce the pain and discomfort he currently endures.

SDR isn’t currently funded by the NHS for children with Jack’s level of cerebral palsy. He has been approved for surgery, but it needs to be funded privately. The total cost, including surgery, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation, is £50,000. We are doing everything we can to fundraise this amount and hope that Jack can have surgery in the next 6-8 months.

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7.5% of all donations to Tree of Hope related 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, the money will be used, if appropriate, to support 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 remaining funds will be transferred to Tree of Hope to be used for its general charitable purposes.