Soon after our little boy was born, life as we expected it changed dramatically.

He was diagnosed with a rare brain conditon. His brain hadn't developed correctly in the womb. Instead of the folds you would expect to see, Oakley's brain was smooth. As a result of this arrested brain development, his head circumference was also severely small.

Full of love for our son, we left the hospital appointment utterly devestated and heartbroken.

We were told to wait and see how Oakley developed over the next few days, weeks, months and years. In the meantime they would work to find out the cause.

Over a year later, we still are unaware of the cause and don't know how our baby became the 1 in 100,000. But what we do know, is that he is so much more than his medical conditions.

After being told he may be blind, deaf, unable to speak, move, tube fed and have no higher brain function than absolute basic survival, we feared the worst but cautiously hoped for the best. Epilepsy joined the diagnoses of severe Microcephaly and Lissencephaly just a couple of months later. Understandably, this has been an incredibly difficult and emotional journey for us as first time parents.

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So, why Oakie Dokie?

It became fairly evident early on that the NHS isn't able to offer the sort of proactive treatment or therapies to support and promote Oakley's development. So, we began to look elsewhere.

After some research, we found (and continue to find) incredible private, specialist therapies which are supporting numerous children with complex medical conditions like Oakley across the globe. We've tapped into this community via social media and enrolled Oakley into some of these already. We have witnessed first hand the positive impact that these therapies have. Oakley's therapists have been pleasantly surprised by his resilience and determined attitude.

Oakley gives it his all and shows us every day that he is capable of so much more. It's up to us to make sure he has every opportunity to achieve his true potential, whatever that may be.

So, when our wonderful friends Jo and Simon suggested creating charity candles for Oakley to support his therapy costs, we couldn't believe it. And that's how Oakie Dokie was born.

100% of the purchase price goes directly towards Oakley's therapy costs.

We're just a small family, but we have big dreams for our son.

Together we can achieve the impossible. And by sharing Oakley's story, we hope to inspire others to do the same.

With love,
Oakley's Mum and Dad