• 

  Layla eating her 1st ice-cream

TEAM LAYLA is back again (3rd year running) to try to raise more money for the Royal Children's Hosptial. So far collectively the team has raised over $45,000 for the Good Friday Appeal (even more if we counted our staggering 370 team members entries), an amazing effort by everyone!!!! This year we hope to resister the largest team again and we hope to fundraise even more money so we can help even more sick children. This event is for such a good cause.

The team's inspiration is Layla Hopkins (3 1/2yrs old) who was born 4 months premature. Against all odds she survived and continues to amaze everyone with her strength and determination.

In 2010 Layla overcame tube dependancy. 'Tube Dependancy' is an unintended side effect of being tube fed for long periods of time, something that is necessary during critical bouts of sickness to sustain a persons life.

Many of you already know this, but this year Layla had her feeding tube removed and she now eats and drinks orally like a normal child. For the first 3 years of her life she got 100% of her nutritional intake through the tube which went dircetly into her stomach.

She is still underweight for her age – 9.3kgs (about the size of a one year old) but she is working on this and enjoying eating, a skill she missed out on until now. It is a real pleasure to see her get stuck into a chocolate ice cream!!

We have been contacted and met many other desperate families with children who are tube fed and can't eat. We hope that with increased awareness and more funding the Royal Chilren's Hosptial can set up a tube weaning/feeding clinic and start to help others like Layla.

Thanks again for all of your continued support with such a good cause. GOOD LUCK with everyone's training and GOOD LUCK to those who are trying to beat or set a personal best in the event!

The Hopkins Family (Danny, Tash, Milla, Hunter & Layla) xxx