<div>We want to send a very special boy on the trip of a lifetime and we need your help to do it. Our special little friend is Blake McCaughey and its very fair to say that none of us would want to go through what Blake and his family have had to deal with since birth. We are raising funds to send Blake and his family to Boston, USA for an unforgettable experience. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We have listed below why this is vitally important to us so we would really appreciate any help you can offer.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The funds will be used to pay for flights, accommodation and day trips that can help to make memories for a family who just do not know what the future holds for Blake.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We would urge you to read the information below, this is the reality for a family. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blake McCaughey is 15 years old. Since being born prematurely, he has experienced a physical life that would crush the spirit of most ordinary people. He has missed a very great deal of what comes naturally and normally to the overwhelming majority of children. Blake suffered pneumonia nineteen times in the first two years of his life. This led to him having to live life ‘nil by mouth’ – no food or drink at all. Blake continued to challenge doctors with his uniqueness as to why his muscles were so weak, his swallow unsafe, his lack of weight gain and growth.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The Reality
</div>
<div>For perspective, it is fundamentally essential to understand that Blake’s medical problems are unique and have stretched, to the limit, the fantastic skills of doctors and medical staff in both Belfast and the famous Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blakes heart began to give concerns and in May 2017 Blake had open heart surgery where he received a donor heart valve.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Fast forward to May 2019 and Blake was losing weight very quickly, fading away. He could not keep his own body temperature up and his heart and blood pressure where functioning at an exceptionally low level. Blake was being fed by tubes into his jej but nothing was working.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thankfully, the Gastro team in Belfast took Blake on in December 2019. He was now seriously ill and TPN was the last hope. TPN stands for Total Parental Nutrition and goes directly into Blakes heart through his Broviac line.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blakes TPN runs for 16hrs a day to keep his body hydrated and supply his body with every calorie, vitamin and mineral that the body needs to keep Blake and his organs alive. Then on the other 7hrs we run all Blake’s replacement fluids through a second port on his Broviac line to replace any additional losses he has from his ileostomy. Every day is a balancing act of replacements versus losses for Blakes hydration.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>To connect TPN we must conduct a sterile procedure with two adults twice a day to access Blakes line as the risks of sepsis are huge.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blake was diagnosed with Irreversible Intestinal failure. The Royal Childrens hospital, Belfast was their home for the next three plus years (with 8 months in Great Ormond Street in between). Over these 3 years, Blake had sixteen surgeries and some very scary times. Blake was now living his life on morphine and cannabis plus other hard drugs to control his unexplained pain. He was constantly crying out for help, but nothing could explain the pain.
</div>
<div>Blake had a section of his bowel that was not working and when he sat up, he was obstructing his bowel. So, more recovery and more surgery planned which means Blake can only sit up for 5 to 10 mins at time so in a day he has to lie back for about 23hours.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In Jan 2022 Blake would them get a stoma/ileostomy to allow release of his bowel contents. Unfortunately, Blake was still in a lot of pain even after all these corrections had been made and by this stage had four medical devices in his abdomen. Blake was brought back from Great Ormond Street to recover in Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. They had short periods at home, but it was never for very long until Blake was in too much pain, and it was hospital again.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>July 2022 Blake was enjoying a few days in Portrush when he took bowel obstruction again and needed surgery, our surgeon was very clear this was enough to kill Blake, but we had no choice if we left him, he was not going to survive,
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blakes surgeons found a twisted bowel that he had multiple hernias. Thankfully, he was able to fix the mechanical problems.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blake has now managed to get off all pain medications but again this came with massive problems as Blakes withdrawals where extremely hard and 6 weeks of come downs involving talking to water taps and chewing his own tongue.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As well as being horrendously tough physically, Blake and his mother were separated from the rest of his family. Pre Covid, they could visit but then during Covid, they were unable to be together for months on end. Blake also lost his grandfather during this time.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Since December 2022 Blake has been home but to this day, he cannot sit up for any length of time without his bowel obstructing so he spends 95% of his days lying back/flat. His wheelchair is adaptable to allow him to lie back at an angle that avoids a bowel obstruction.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The Future
</div>
<div>Blake has been asked now to attend Birmingham Children's Hospital later this year to meet the transplant team and see if Blake could possibly receive the gift of a small bowel transplant. Firstly, they need to go to meet the team there and go through 2 weeks of tests and meetings. Even if Blake is successful to make the wait list, a small bowel transplant is not like other organs that generally give patients years of stability, they can just stop working at any point. They also come with a substantial risk of Cancer and multiple other issues.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Blake himself
</div>
<div>Extraordinarily, given the hand which he has been dealt, Blake is the most loveable, caring, crazy, fun loving 15year old. He touches all who meet him with his total disregard for his own problems, and indeed pain. He loves ice hockey and his team the Belfast Giants, where he is much loved by both the players and fans. His fantastic spirit has been recognised recently by his surgeon in Great Ormond Street, who has put Blake forward for a special award.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The trip
</div>
<div>We simply cannot be sure what, or how long the future is for Blake. We have tried against the obvious practical difficulties of his physical needs, and the constant danger of unforeseen health complications, to a make his life extra special. Given the particularly horrible time he has had to suffer over recent years, we see a trip to the States as being the thrill of a lifetime for him, and we are pushing forward as hard as we can with it, while hoping for help from anyone who feels they can assist.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any help you may be able to offer.
</div>

Marguerite Rea

Odyssey Trust

Karen McKee

Ronnie Browne

Anonymous

Megsy Moran

Larissza Istvanfi

Sarah Montgomery

Lauren Ure

Kirsty Moore

Niamh Caldwell

Miss C A Acheson

Emily Robertsom

Etaoin Quinn

Adam Turkington

Blake's Boston Dream

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation forBlake's Boston Dream