On 27th February 2022 we welcomed a beautiful baby boy into our lives. We loved Corey Grayson Jeavons from the moment we laid eyes on him.
Unfortunately, Corey's life is not straight forward. He was born with Oesophageal Atresia and Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula, meaning that his food pipe was not connected to his stomach - and in fact had a connection to his windpipe. In essence he was and is unable to swallow.
Two mammoth surgeries were unable to resolve the issue, meaning that our baby boy is currently fed through a tube into his stomach (inserted in surgery three) and has an 'oesophagostomy' - a hole in the neck where he secretions and saliva go when he swallows. As part of his wider issues, Corey also has a right-side aortic arch - making his surgeries more difficult, as well as a single horseshoe kidney and high blood pressure.
A few weeks ago, 'Cor Cor' was back in theatre for a 'Gastric Pull Up', which effectively turned his stomach into a tube to replace his oesophagus. This left him in intensive care for another two weeks, including a number of complications which resulted in leaks from the neck. We're still in and out of hospital today as we look to work towards a future in which Corey will be able to swallow in some way, though he will never quite be able to eat as well as others. Many people with the condition suffer from recurrent chest and lung infections, amongst other complications.
Around twenty five children in the UK each year have this condition to the extent that Corey does, in that the gap between the top and end of his oesophagus is too long to natively repair.
Most of you know that running was a passion of mine, however, since Corey's birth - for obvious reasons I've barely pounded the pavement (I considered myself 'semi-retired!'). However, I recently saw an appeal from the charity TOFS for a late London Marathon replacement, due to injury. TOFS offer lifelong support for those unable to swallow, and are working towards a world in which those born with OA/TOF live long and healthy lives, unconstrained by the impact of being born with these conditions.
I've got just 8 weeks to train and in truth, have no idea how I'll manage it after so many months out - especially as Corey is likely to be back in hospital for an extended period prior to the race. However running for TOFS appears to be fate, and every mile of training and the race itself will be for my baby boy.
Please do support where you can.
UPDATE
Blown away by the response to this fundraiser. The previously highest total by an individual Marathon runner for TOFS was £7K, so to have surpassed that by someway is truly humbling. Let's not stop here!
