Leo was born on 7th December 2003

Nothing was going to prepare me for what I was going to face when he was born not only was I a young mum at the age of 18 but having to try and understand that my baby was seriously ill was overwhelming.

Leo was born in the UCH but was soon transferred to the QEH and he was operated on straight away. The first time I saw him he was in an incubator and he looked so fragile. Leo ended up having 4 operations in the first month of his life so he was surrounded by machinery and equipment that was pretty scary to look at especially because he was so energetic and he would set the machines off which scared the life out of me.

I stayed at the QEH with my son and saw the family at weekends as it was very difficult for them to come down during the week as they had other commitments. I've got a younger brother who was only 5 years old at the time.

It was emotionally hard to deal with and there were times I would leave the hospital when it go too much to handle Leo spent the first year of his like in the QEH and then we were transferred to a mother and baby unit but because of my mental health issues we moved in with my mum and dad and that's when Leo started to make progress. We were always told that because of Leo's extended tummy that he would never be able to crawl, walk or ride a bike and he proved them all wrong. It help having a younger brother for Leo to look up to because Leo learnt a lot from him.

Mum started to deal with the hospital appointments and I struggled to understand it all. My mum explained it to me in a way I could understand and be able to try and move on the best way I could.

My found out about CLDF when Leo had an appointment at King's Hospital and we met someone called Laura who worked for CLDF.

The charity became a massive support group for Leo and our family and helped us through really tough times.

One of the toughest times was near Christmas 2007 when Leo decided to sit down and help himself to a tin of sticky nuts.

He started to have tummy pain and we took it in turns to walk him around the block thinking it was trapped wind. The pain got so bad I ended up taking him to the Royal Free Hospital. They gave him an ultra sound scan to see what was going on and found that his bowel and intestines were blocked and he had to have an emergency operation.

I phoned my mum and dad and they came up straight away for the doctor or explained to them what was going to happen. It was a very long day for me and my family and I thought I wouldn't get through it but thanks to my mum she pulled me through it.

It meant Leo had to spend the next eight months in hospital but gradually he started to pull through that's when I knew my son was a fighter.

By the time Leo was 15 he decided he wanted to raise money for CLDF by doing the 10k run in London so Leo and his friend Liz signed up. To be honest I was quite worried hoping he would have the energy to take part but to see him come over the finish line was an amazing feeling I felt so proud of him.

The seeing the smile on his face when he picked up his medal was priceless.

Despite the difficulty Leo went through he has so much will power and strength to carry on with life the best way he could.

Coping with a family member with this condition is really hard to explain.

Leo was always a giving person, he ran the London 10k three times in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

I decided to take part myself in 2011 along with Leo and my brother Stephen only because it was too much for me to stand at the finish line waiting for him to come through.

I'm so glad I did I could see why Leo wanted to take part and raise money its something I have not experienced before in my life and it was amazing to walk through the heart of London seeing people cheer you on.

Its been nearly four years since Leo sadly passed away and me and my family are still very much part of the London 10k to remember Leo. Family and friends still also take part and we have made our own t-shirts with Leo's first picture from the 10k run. We have raised lots of money for CLDF so im sure Leo's looking down feeling so proud of his friends and family who are still keep up the good work.