Hi, I'm Lauren and I'm trying to raise money to buy an adapted trike for my son to be able to ride.

Billy, along with his twin sister Nina, was born extremely prematurely at just 25 weeks and 2 days gestation. He weighed just 2lbs (920g) at birth. It took a terrifying 11 minutes and several attempts by doctors and consultants to intubate Billy, meaning he was not breathing and without oxygen during this time.

Both Billy and Nina had incredibly long and complex 17 week stays in the NICU with many complications involving the lungs, heart, brain, guts, infections, sepsis, NEC, surgeries, huge amounts of breathing issues, feeding issues, blood transfusions etc. All through the start of covid too.

Billy came home on 24/7 oxygen and 11 different medications. He has been under physiotherapy and occupational therapy since birth as they knew he had extensive brain damage and would likely be physically disabled. Billy spent lots of time in and out of hospital admissions due to his weak immune system and chronic lung disease. We gradually began to notice a one sided preference of his arms and legs and raised this with his medical team.

At the age of 2, Billy was officially diagnosed with spastic hemiplegic cerebral palsy of his left hand side. This means that due to his brain damage, every muscle on the left side of his body is stiff and weak. Nina was also diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. This means both of her legs are stiff.

Despite loads and loads of physio, wearing an AFO and various rounds of botox into his leg with serial casting for weeks, Billy continues to struggle with the severe tightness in his left leg, poor balance, uneven use of his arms etc. He also has horizontal nystagmus which means his vision is always wobbly and he is extremely light sensitive. All of these things combined mean that Billy is unable to ride even a balance bike.

Due to pain and tiredness, Billy is unable to walk for much distance and needs to use a wheelchair often, which needs to be pushed for him due to his left arm being stiff/weak. This means that on family days out, Billy is often having to sit in his wheelchair and watch his twin sister and little brother race around on their bikes and is unable to join in due to not having a suitable trike.

Billy has recently had a trike trial from RMS arranged by his lovely NHS physiotherapist. Billy is usually a very happy boy with a huge zest for life, but seeing him zoom up and down the street on a trike perfectly adapted for him was truly magical. I have never seen this beautiful 4 year old boy, who has been through and continues to go through so much in his little life SO incredibly ecstatic. He was doing it! Just like the other kids!! He was beaming. I was close to tears but held it in for his sake.

Then reality hit. The trike was put back into the van and driven away. The quote came through at an astonishing £1519 +VAT. Unfortunately this is not funded on the NHS and we do not have any savings to be able to purchase it for him.

We have tried applying to charities for grants to no avail, and with having 2 disabled 4 year olds and a 2 year old to care for, simply do not have the time or brain capacity to continue searching and filling out long and complicated application forms.

This trike would mean the absolute world to Billy and to us. It not only means he would be able to join in and keep up with his siblings and peers, but would also provide an amazing source of exercise for him which he currently cannot participate in. This would be great for his overall health as well as making a gorgeous little boy's dreams come true.

Thank you for taking the time to read and considering any donation amount towards this life changing piece of equipment for Billy. He truly deserves it and we will be eternally grateful.

*Edit* - We have raised the goal to be able to purchase get a tow bar for the car and have it fitted in order to be able to transport the trike in dad's trailer on trips out with us. We cannot thank everyone enough for the huge amount of kindness and generosity so far. ❤

Edit #2 - Wow I wish I had more words to express how truly and incredibly grateful we are to each and every single person for their kindness and generosity! Any donations beyond the goal will be saved and used only for maintenance and upkeep of the trike plus some safety accessories such as helmet and pads etc. Thank you all again SO much!!