Guest blog by Hayley Studley
On the 29th February 2020 I went into premature labour giving birth to Luca James Studley at 7.01am. He was diagnosed with OA/TOF or Oesophageal Atresia (OA) and Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula (TOF) which is a rare congenital condition of the Oesophagus and/or trachea that affects 1 in every 3,500 babies.
In early January I came to realise that TOF awareness week 2022 was 28th February 2022-6th March 2022- so it fell on Luca’s 2nd Birthday. As Luca is a leap year baby we chose to celebrate his birthday on the 28th of February and I loved that his birthday coincided with the very week dedicated to raising awareness of his condition so I was inspired to try and raise some money for the TOF charity that offer their support to us. Unfortunately Luca wasn’t well on his special day and needed to go back to Leeds General Infirmary for another stretch- but that didn’t stop us celebrating with cake!
I approached RG Law who I work for, for permission to do a cake sale in the office though I hadn’t realised that their response would be so positive and with the full support of my workplace my plans began to grow beyond what I had ever imagined it would turn into!
We had decided to turn it into a companywide event in each of our offices- reaching out to friends and family too. So with the plans for a raffle, I turned to the Mumbler group on Facebook to ask for local businesses for help with Prize donations…WOW! I am so grateful for the huge response I received and wish to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who helped me turn what was supposed to be a small cake sale into a wonderful day raising an amazing £606! £106 more than my target!
I’m so grateful to the members of Mumbler who responded to me and even for those who simply wished me well. I’m also grateful to the firm I work for, for supporting me and also doing their own part to spread awareness of Luca’s condition. They have agreed to mention the TOF charity page at the bottom of our Quotation letters throughout March and are also donating £1 of the legal fees per new client throughout March to the charity.
I’m blown away by the support of my local community through Mumbler and also for RG Law for allowing me go ahead with the event at work to raise awareness and money for the Charity that supports the cause that’s so close to my heart! Big thank you for everyone involved!
For more information about TOF awareness week:
