Now we know Leo is going to be fine

Leo is a happy 3 year-old who loves to give hugs and kisses. He has cerebral palsy, which affects his co-ordination and movement. Leo’s mum Lyn shared her story with us.

"It was a difficult birth and they took Leo off to do tests straight away. He had a chest infection and he wasn’t breathing right."

"Leo had to stay in hospital until Christmas Eve, and we didn’t even go out to get presents that year."

Something wasn’t right

"Over the next year, we noticed he wasn’t doing things that other children did. Then, when Leo was 2, he had an MRI scan. When they told me it was cerebral palsy, I couldn’t take it in. I was really, really shocked. I blamed myself."

"At first I didn’t want to let Leo out of my sight, worrying constantly that he was in pain. I knew so little about cerebral palsy. I needed help but I didn’t know where to turn. Thankfully, our paediatrician told us about Scope."

We needed practical support and advice

"After we spoke to Ian from Scope, everything started to change for our family. Ian has a great job and drives a car. He also has cerebral palsy.

"I needed to see that Leo would be able to do all those things too. Ian gave us lots of practical support and advice about things. We could ask him anything and he’d tell us the truth, never skirting around the issue." 

We’re optimistic for the future

"These days Leo is so full of life, outgoing and gregarious. His confidence and sense of adventure are growing all the time.

When I think back to that first Christmas with Leo, I’m amazed at how things have changed. We don’t know what Leo’s future is going to be. But we’re so much more optimistic now. We know he’s going to be fine. If we hadn’t had support from Scope, we’d still be wondering."