Team James Whatever It Takes

James suffers from spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy. He also has hydrocephalus and epilepsy. We're hoping to raise funds to help us get him as mobile and independent as possible (he is currently in a wheelchair and reliant on his parents for his every need). The therapy and surgeries that he ideally needs to help with his high spasticity (or high tone) is only available outside of New Zealand and we need your help to make this even possible! James suffered from a traumatic birth and spent the first day of his life being airlifted from Tauranga Hospital to Waikato Hospital. From there he spent the next few days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, fighting for his life. Fortunately he stabilised and was released from hospital after one week. James' parents thought they had dodged a bullet and James had just had a very rough start to life, however this was not to be. It became apparent that James wasn't doing the usual things a 6 week old baby should do, so they went back to their local GP who referred them back to the hospital Paediatrician. James ended up having an urgent MRI done on his brain, which confirmed he had hydrocephalus (water on the brain), and in two weeks the family found themselves up in Starship watching their 8 week baby go through brain surgery, to insert a shunt to relieve the pressure from his brain. Little James pulled through this and after a very challenging few months of life the family was hit with another blow. After a routine check-up at the hospital James' paediatrician dropped the bombshell that James was to be diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy, meaning that there had been a brain injury he had suffered at birth, which was going to result in ongoing problems with motor skills. Unfortunately the family was not able to prove that James' case was an ACC injury, therefore other than the standard care available (limited to a visit from a physio once every 6 or so weeks) all other therapy costs had to be privately funded by James' family. Its been a tough road, and as James has got older his legs have got stiffer and he is now suffering from various contractures (permanent shortening of muscles or joints). This is despite the family relocating to Auckland for first 4 years of James' life and living with in-laws, trying to get James the best therapy available in New Zealand. Now we are forced to look further afield and the best care and surgery available for what James needs is in the States. But we need some help to get him there!!