Skydiving to say thank you
People do all sorts of amazing things for Chestnut Tree House. Just this morning I heard about Luke, who will be braving a 15,000ft skydive to raise funds for Chestnut Tree House, who provide vital care for his daughter, Maisy-Leigh, who has an extremely rare genetic condition.
In 2015, Luke’s wife, Hayleigh had an emergency c-section and just managed to catch a glimpse of MaisyLeigh before she was taken to the high dependency unit. By the time Luke and Hayleigh got to see their daughter, five hours later, she was really poorly and needed support with her breathing. It was at this point that the new parents were told that Maisy-Leigh wasn’t expected to last the weekend.
The pair describe this time as a whirlwind. Maisy-Leigh was in critical care for almost four months, and they were told she had a number of complex conditions which would affect her brain, vision and coordination. Doctors also noticed her ears were set low on her face, she had a wide nose bridge, and quite a lot of hair on her face and back – all symptoms of something called Coffin-Siris syndrome. The condition is so rare that there are only 200 known cases, so when Maisy-Leigh was diagnosed, Luke and Hayleigh couldn’t believe what was happening.
When Maisy-Leigh was one year old, the family visited Chestnut Tree House for the first time. They were a bit anxious about being referred to a children’s hospice, but as soon as they walked through the door, they said it felt just like home. Luke told us that he wants to fundraise to say thank you for everything Chestnut does for Maisy-Leigh. Luke has set himself a fundraising target of £1,000 for his skydive. Visit justgiving.com/ fundraising/luke-x-hayleigh-tate
Results from St Barnabas Hospice’s lottery draw 895 – February 25:
Lottery no: From: £1,000 724161 Worthing £250 575715 Worthing £100 278235 Haywards £10 winners: £5 winners: 371131 150367 945854 672585 927046 372592 517392 184451 769773 232701 603801 830836 255701 155318 496069 739881 939013 657687 193236 178384