Jamie’s Story
Jamie’s son Charlie was born with a cleft lip. He jumped at the chance to participate in the Great North Run to raise money for CLAPA.
Jamie shares why fundraising for CLAPA means so much to him.
The news that our unborn child had a cleft lip and possibly a cleft palate was the scariest day of our pregnancy. We had no idea what it would mean for Charlie once he arrived in the world and the huge hurdles that might lie ahead.
Thankfully, the hospital team directed us to CLAPA. They explained the cleft diagnosis and connected us with other parents in similar situations. They talked us through the journey of what might happen, sent us specialist feeding bottles for babies with a cleft palate, and gave us support during those worrying few months.
When Charlie finally made his appearance, he gave us a bit of a shock (not for the last time.) His palate was intact, and his lip wasn’t as noticeable as it had appeared on scans.
I jumped at doing the Great North Run to raise money for CLAPA. It was inspiring to see so many people at the event fundraising for causes they were passionate about.
I jumped at doing the Great North Run to raise money for CLAPA. It was inspiring to see so many people at the event fundraising for causes they were passionate about. I set a new Personal Best of just under 1 hr 38 mins. Charlie and I enjoy doing Parkruns together in his pushchair, so maybe he’ll do it one day too!
But the big event was two days later when Charlie went to the hospital for his lip surgery. We were much more worried than him. He was feeding, playing, and shouting as usual within an hour of waking up. There have been some challenges (he’s not a fan of nose drops he needs to take), but it’s wonderful to see how quickly he’s bounced back.
Thank you for supporting CLAPA!
Does Jamie inspire you? Get in touch with our fundraising team by emailing [email protected] to find out how you can make a difference.
