A Scottish mum refused to terminate her pregnancy, despite being told her baby had two potentially life-limiting conditions.
Kirsty Dinsdale gave birth to her much-loved son Jackson at an Edinburgh hospital and now wants to give him a fighting change.
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Now aged one, Jackson has spina bifida and hydrocephalus. He was born to mum Kirsty and dad Johnny, 34, in in December 2020.
When Kirsty, 30, was 20-weeks pregnant, they were told that Jackson was expected to be born with Spina Bifida Myelomeningocele, reports the Daily Record.
Spina bifida affects the both spine and spinal cord when they don't develop properly in the womb, creating a gap within the spine.
The Myelomeningocele form of the condition, when the spinal canal remains open along several vertebrae, is the most severe type.
The couple were also told their baby would have Hydrocephalus, a build-up of excessive fluid in the brain, which can cause damage.
Kirsty refused offers of a termination from medics and Jackson was born December 16, 2020, with both conditions.
He has already undergone three major surgeries and is in and out of hospital on a monthly basis but his parents are determined to give him every chance.
They have set up a fundraiser for treatments which aren't currently available on the NHS including physiotherapy, neuromuscular electrical stimulation and hydrotherapy.
Spina bifida is often referred to as a 'snowflake condition' which doesn't affect two people in the same way, and it is difficult for medics to predict how Jackson's health will be affected as he grows older.
Kirsty is hopeful the private treatments will give him the best chance.
Kirsty said: "Considering everything that's he been through, he's so smiley and cuddly and just absolutely wonderful.
"We have been told that this is the optimum time, these are the vital years to really make an impact with a child.
"That's why we're trying to do everything we can to get him on therapies and make a difference.
"I don't want to look back in five years and wish that we'd done more to help him so we're trying to do all we can at the moment."
However, it has been a difficult 13 months for the couple watching their tiny baby undergo gruelling operations.
When he was born by C-Section at the Royal Children's Hospital in Edinburgh, Jackson was immediately whisked away from his mum who didn't even get to hold him.
Medical staff later brought him back in and let Kirsty touch his face before placing him in an incubator to stabilise him.
Then, at just one-hour-old, Jackson was rushed in for major surgery to close the open wound on his back and put the damaged nerves back inside.
Just hours later Jackson's heart stopped for 52 seconds, forcing him to be resuscitated and put on to a ventilator for three days.
Kirsty, who had a severe infection following her C-Section, was very unwell and unable to visit her newborn son during this time.
She said: "I literally saw him for minutes before they took him away.
"It was so horrible and because of covid, as well, nobody was allowed to come and see me.
"So I was just lying in a hospital room by myself crying for three days. I was completely on my own which was really hard."
Problems continued for Jackson when at one month old, the fluid on his brain became overwhelming and he had to have emergency brain surgery.
A ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt, a thin plastic tube which helps drain extra fluid from the brain, was then inserted.
The shunt has to be monitored constantly because there's a chance it may malfunction before Jackson turns two.
He also has to have intermittent catheters five times a day to help his bladder function, something which will last his whole life.
This is done to stop the urine refluxing and causing kidney damage and will be something he will learn to do himself as he gets older.
Jackson will always be on medication and is in and out of hospital on a monthly basis.
As well as fundraising for physiotherapy, neuromuscular electrical stimulation and hydrotherapy, Kirsty and Johnny want to raise money for any other medical equipment Jackson may need.
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