"A million thank yous" to #Willdoes for funding CIMT for our Son!

In June 2020 Sophie & Jimmy Hollywood, local Swanage family, applied to #Willdoes for funding for their little boy, James, to have CIMT (Constraint Induced Movement Therapy).

We funded £3,887.50 for James to be able to have this treatment in Essex.

James was born on the 22nd September 2017 and has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, left hemiplegia. When one side of the brain is damaged the opposite side of the body is affected. James has lots of different therapies to help him but the two biggest therapies that James undergoes each year are CIMT (Constraint Induced Movement Therapy) and Neuron Rehabilitation, a centre in Poland.

WillDoes funded a course of CIMT for James, aged 3, who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy when he was 6 months old. The therapy focuses on repetitive use of his affected arm and hand, whilst having a plaster cast restraining his other arm. The goal is to train his brain to use that side of his body. Over 30 hours of therapy with two specialist physiotherapists goes into this course, and although it is intense, exhausting and expensive, the results speak for themselves. We are all incredibly proud of James and all the hard work he put in, doing everything that was asked of him, and equally as grateful for the generosity of the charity.

We wanted to let you know we got home from Essex and it was a real success! James worked so hard and never actually had to finish a session early or didn’t give anything a go, we’re super proud of him. There is a noticeable difference in the strength and awareness of his arm and his language has come on a lot too which can happen when you’re working the brain so intensively.

A million thank yous for everything you did to make it happen.

Thank you all, you've made a real difference to him.

From Sophie & Jimmy

Their journey into the complex needs of James' makeup is far from over, but today he is a thriving, happy and very cheeky little boy! He goes to nursery, which has been great for getting him to socialize and be away from his mummy 24/7. They really hope it will help with his speech, as this is the area that he struggles with the most at the moment. They had just started with a private speech and language therapist when lockdown hit!

On behalf of the Willdoes Team, we wish James all the best for the future and his continued advancement from successful treatments such as CIMT.