Half Marathon for Leo & Nourish

Septo Optic Dysplasia is a rare congenital condition affecting vision, hormonal

function, movement and coordination.

I’d certainly never heard of it before, nor had my family.

My son Leo who turned two in March

this year, was diagnosed with this 14

months ago after a brain MRI this also

confirmed that the additional weakness he was experiencing on the left hand side of his body was cerebral palsy.

Leo is genuinely one of the happiest,

most content souls. I’m probably biased but he’ll melt your heart with those blue

eyes and radiant smile of his. His

determination at life is luminous and

although these curve balls have been

thrown at him so early in his life, there’s

no stopping this head strong little soldier of mine.

On the 28th August I will be running the Kirkcaldy Parks Half Marathon alongside my brother Graeme. Through this we are fundraising to help support costs

involved in Leo’s physiotherapies,

as well as equipment that will help him

build his body strength up. I’d also like to raise funds for Nourish - a local family

support system for children with

additional needs who have been a good

support since Leo’s diagnosis. I am so

grateful to them for supporting me, and would love to be able to give something back.

Leo has been attending Movement

Physiotherapy in West Lothian. They

work with children with neurological

conditions, this has been amazing for Leo he is getting so much stronger, He has

also just started with Physio4kids

Glasgow who specialise in a treatment called hippotherapy. This is an alternative

form of therapy - a mix of physical,

occupational and speech using equine

movement and equipment to develop

and enhance neurological and physical

functioning. This is all done by channeling the movement of the horse. Clever or

what?! This is the main activity my

fundraising will go towards.

This kind of treatment is key to Leo’s overall development, early intervention,

doing as much as possible now while the connections in the brain are still forming

is so important. He’s come so far already and I am so very proud of this tiny hero

of mine. We already see vast

improvements in his vision and his

balance and I’m sure it won’t be long until he can walk, talk and give his older sister Sofia the run around too.

I’d be so grateful for any contribution or

donation you can make for Leo the Lion. Every penny will make the utmost

difference to his life - we’re already so

very proud of him, and we’re excited to

see him evolve into the confident, happy human he’s already proving to be. Thank you! ❤️