A MOTHER who was told her son would never talk said it was amazing to hear him say the word ‘mum’.
Jodie Morgan burst into tears when her two-year-old son Louie George Wood said ‘mum’ over and over again. She even managed to record it.
Louie was born prematurely at 28 weeks and has quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy, severe periventricular leukomalacia (a type of brain injury), chronic lung disease, global development delay and nystagmus involuntary movement of the eyes. Jodie and Louie’s dad Tom Wood were told he would never reach certain milestones, but he has gone on to defy doctors by rolling over and sitting up - and now talking.
Jodie, 32, of Greenside, Mapplewell, said: “Louie is doing fab. We were told he wasn’t going to roll over or sit up and that he probably wouldn’t talk either.
“But he’s showed progressive signs of it. I caught him on video saying ‘mum’ and it was just so amazing. He was saying it over and over again, so he knows what he is saying. I was in tears, it was just so emotional. It was amazing, and another thing he has done that doctors said he wouldn’t do another box ticked.”
Jodie and Tom are raising £120,000 so Louie can undergo specialist treatment in America which is not available to him on the NHS, which will help him walk. It will also be used for specialist equipment to help adapt their home.
The couple have organised lots of fundraisers, and a sponsored walk has raised more than £2,000.
More than 80 people walked almost six miles from the town hall to Cannon Hall Farm, including Jodie and Tom, Louie and his brother Jake, seven.
Jodie added: “One of my friends said ‘let’s do a walk’ and said it was 5k. Me and Tom did a recce to see what the paths were like and things, but Tom said ‘this isn’t 5k.’
“He totted it up when we got home and it was 5.8miles.
“I didn’t dare tell people because I thought they would be put off. But we all did it, there was about 80-odd people, children and adults, some had dogs, some had pushchairs. It was the perfect day.
“It has taught me a lesson because whenever people have wanted money for charity, I used to think ‘I only have a couple of pounds, it’s neither here nor there’.
“But every penny really does count and I wouldn’t mind if someone gave us a penny.”
During pregnancy, Jodie suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition which causes severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss and dehydration.
But Jodie is also diabetic and takes insulin, which means she must eat.
Jodie also had the condition during her first pregnancy with Jake but he does not have any health problems.
She gave birth to Louie at 28 weeks via emergency Caesarean section. He weighed two pounds, and spent four months in three different hospitals before being allowed home on 24-hour oxygen.
But after a couple of weeks at home Jodie and Tom noticed something wasn’t right, and were given the devastating news that he had multiple brain cysts and was likely to have cerebral palsy. Jodie said Louie’s medical problems are expected to get worse as he gets older.
To donate, see just4children.org/children-helped2018/louies-pace-a-warriors-tale
