Captain Jack

Captain Jack

Some kids have much tougher battles than most in their daily lives. As do their families. Little Jackson Hislop was born 15 weeks prematurely and now lives with Quadriplegic Dystonic Cerebral Palsy. The plucky little 3 year old also has a hearing impairment which has meant his ability to walk has been delayed and things many others take for granted take massive work for him to achieve.

The little boy’s mum, Kristy Lea Hislop, is trying to raise money to buy a wheelchair van. “Jack is the absolute light of our life. Such a cheeky character,” said his mum. “We spent the year after his diagnosis attending multiple early intervention therapies and saw the determination of our boy amaze us and all of his therapists along the way. Thanks to an overwhelming amount of support last year we managed to provide Jack with all the equipment and therapy he needed through the year. We are so grateful. Jack doesn’t let CP hold him back from enjoying a full and happy life though.

Jack’s favourite thing to do is to get out and about and explore new places (the aquarium is the latest favourite), to go for a walk, and to people watch. He has now grown into such a such a big boy I am having a hard time getting him in and out of the car seat now and I have also been lifting his 39 kilogram chair in and out of the car so it’s definitely time to start modifying our car and house situation to accommodate a wheelchair,” Kristy Lea said. Enter SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast. The centre is holding a pirate themed fund raising event on Friday 4th May for Jackson and will open their doors from 5pm – 7pm for a cost of $20. There will be pirate -themed fun and of course the stars of the show (the sharks) will be in full flight in a rare night time display in the aquarium. The staff are working for free and feel passionate about raising as much money as possible for this special little boy.

“We are hoping to raise both awareness for Jackson’s medical condition and funds to help equip their home for Jackson’s needs,” said Vicki Brown, the Operations Manager at SEA LIFE Sunshine Coast. The well-known local is one of the forces behind the success of the charity arm of SEA LIFE that is celebrating 10 years of giving to kids. It is called ‘Merlin’s Magic Wand’ and it indeed spreads magic to the kids who need it most. “Our charity Merlins Magic Wand support seriously ill, disadvantaged and disabled children in three ways,” said Vicki.

Firstly, magical days out where we give away almost five thousand tickets to Sea Life Sunshine Coast each year to local families and charities. We also have magic on tour where we visit the children’s ward every month with a portable touch tank and artefacts for distraction therapy and we have magical spaces where we raise funds to do a make over for a local charity. Recently we did a toddler’s counselling room and play deck at a SunnyKids refuge. We raised over $30K for that one.”

So we hope to see you at the ultimate pirate party or you can support Jackson on his Go Fund Me page if you just search for his name. Charity really does start at home.

Sami xxx