Mylo

I have an amazing nephew. It changes all the time but at the minute he seems to be into battling, swords, Disney films and stylish bow ties. He's big on his DIY and tools and knows what a claw hammer is. Top of his wish list last Christmas was "a real sword". My brother and wife struggled with that one. He's funny, energetic and a great companion if you're into monster hunting. But the real reason that he's amazing is that he is here at all. Mylo was born with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, or CDH.

Mylo soon after he was born

 The diaphragm normally develops in the unborn baby by around the 7-10 week gestation period of the baby’s development and CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to form correctly or fails to develop in the unborn baby, allowing the abdominal contents to herniate into the chest cavity. Mylo's operation - performed as soon as he was born - and treatment was successful and he has just celebrated his fourth birthday. However, Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia is an often fatal birth defect affecting 1 in 2,500-3,000 babies. There is no known cause or prevention and treatment remains medically challenging. Around 50% of babies born with CDH do not survive. Of the 50% that do survive, many of these babies will face varying degrees of medical problems throughout their lives. CDH UK is a registered charity that supports babies, children and their families affected by CDH, campaigns for study and research into the cause, prevention and better treatments of CDH and raises awareness of this devastating condition.

In less than two weeks my brother and a group of fellow adventurers are embarking on a bike ride from London to Paris to raise money for CDH UK. The fact that my brother didn't even have a bike when he agreed to the challenge probably tells you all you need to know about how ready he was for the journey. The support of friends who are joining him for the ride has been amazing and I look forward to waving them off from Newhaven on Saturday May 11th. I also look forward to seeing whether my brother will be able to walk on his return to these shores and if he ever wants to as much as look at a bike ever again.

This fearless group of cyclists have already raised nearly £4,000 for this great cause but if you have any spare change I'm sure they would really appreciate it if you could help them towards their goal. Here's the link to the donation page: Mylo's Bike Ride

I've always known I have an amazing nephew. Now it looks like I have an amazing kid brother as well. Thank you for taking time to read this today.

Mylo today