For George, it’s all about living his best life. The cheeky little rock star in the making spent the first ten months of his life in hospital and has been fighting battles ever since. But despite this you’ll rarely see him without his dazzling smile. Mum Hanna shares their story and explains how her little boy is thriving with the support of Bluebell Wood.

George has been defying the odds from the very beginning, after arriving at just 23 weeks and six days. At 700 grams, he weighed less than a bag of sugar and doctors gave him a heartbreaking 1 in 4 chance  of survival.

“At 6 days old my tiny little baby developed NEC which is a disease in the bowel,” said Hanna.

“We were told that he was not going to make it. He had lost too much blood and his body was beginning to shut down.

“It didn’t seem real or fair that it was happening. The week before he was inside me, perfect and safe! My baby boy hadn’t even opened his eyes yet and seen his mummy or daddy.”

Doctors told the devastated family that it was highly unlikely he’d survive. But their little fighter had other ideas.

“As the hours passed while we were waiting for George to be baptised he began to show slight improvement. He was still fighting. Now he’s here with us every day – he made it.”

Since his traumatic start to life George has had seven surgical procedures and his cerebellum – the part of the brain responsible for balance and coordination - has been left severely damaged.

But the tenacious youngster has defied expectations every step of the way, and has even found some new talents at Bluebell Wood.

“Our first visit to Bluebell Wood was really lovely. George really likes it because there’s always activities to get involved in and always something to do. He loves the Wriggles and Rhymes playgroup too.

“Looking back, to when he first started doing music therapy sessions at the hospice, he’d struggle to move his arms in the way he wanted – and now he’s getting an electric guitar for his next birthday! He’s come such a long way and the support from Bluebell Wood has helped him so much.

For George and his family, Bluebell Wood also offers something money can’t buy – normality.

“Even before the pandemic we were very careful about germs and shielded in the winter to keep him safe, so it was often the case that the only other people we’d see, and the only children George would interact with, were at Bluebell Wood.

“It’s just a whole world to us – a whole normal world. The things that George misses out on, such as parties, are all a possibility at Bluebell Wood. You know that everything will be accessible and you don’t have to worry about anything

“For a long time Bluebell Wood was literally the only place we went to, so it’s incredibly important to us.”

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