Help Cole learn to walk, talk and feed independently.

Meet Cole! Cole is our happy, cheeky and much loved little four year old. He loves swings, 'reading' books, tickles, kindy, music, baths and watching The Wiggles on repeat! He may sound like a typical four year old however he is anything but typical.

Cole was born with an extremely rare genetic disorder - Witteveen-Kolk Syndrome (WITKOS). He is the only person in NZ and one of around 50-60 people in the world known to have WITKOS.

The journey Cole has been on so far in his short life has not been an easy one. Born just before the first lockdown, he spent a significant portion of his early years in and out of hospital receiving treatments and numerous surgeries. He has been tube fed since he was three days old, has very low muscle tone, is non-verbal and has struggled with respiratory issues requiring nightly CPAP and monitoring to name just some of the things he has had to navigate.

The purpose of this page is to help Cole reach his full potential. We'd like to enrol Cole in a three week intensive physical therapy programme in Australia (unavailable in NZ). These programmes unlock six to twelve months' worth of development over the three week period, focusing on movement, feeding and communication. Being able to walk and/or talk would be life changing for our boy.

Unfortunately, with the recent cuts to disability funding, having a young family and Anna having limited ability to work due to Cole's needs we have had to swallow our pride to ask for your help for Cole.