William M's quilt    (Quilt Completed)

Thank you

William and I have come home today after 5 days of being in hospital as he has had surgery for a gastrostomy and this is what we have come home to. It's absolutely beautiful and William loves it.

Thank you all so much to the stitchers and Leanda for taking the time to make this for William. Everyone who donates their wonderful creations for our children thank you so much you are all amazing and we will treasure this forever

Lots of love to you all

Laura and William xx

Finished photos

Individual squares

Card

Stitched by: Nicola Bailey

Biography

William is our 3rd child, he was born at 36 weeks and we received a post-natal diagnosis of Down Syndrome. He spent 2 weeks in Special Care and left with a feeding tube because he struggled with feeding. William was able to have his NG tube removed after 4 months, however feeding was still something that he struggled with.

William has a large medical team and he currently sees 13 different professionals. He has sleep apnoea, respiratory issues, poor mobility, SPD and ARFID which is an eating disorder. We spent all of Christmas and New Year in 2019 in hospital because he had severe pneumonia. This was hard for all the family especially having his 2 siblings at home and we weren't together enjoying the Christmas festivities.

William has always battled with food and this was made worse after his pneumonia. He only eats purees and tiny portions. After 10 months of gaining no weight his NG tube was re-fitted a year ago when he turned 3.

William is now waiting for urgent surgery to have a gastrostomy fitted as he finds the maintenance side of having a NG difficult to tolerate thanks to his Sensory Processing Disorder. He also has constant sinusitis due to his NG only being passed through the same one nostril. He is also waiting for surgery to correct a squint in his eye so the next few months will be challenging for him.

William is now 4 year old and he started SEN school in September and loves it. He loves people and charms everybody who is lucky to meet him. He brings so much love, joy and light to our family.