Language
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
  • Swedish
Back to Firefly Blog

CP Diagnosis and Hope from a Racing Driver

CP Diagnosis and Hope from a Racing Driver

We were still in hospital – Heidi had been born, full term and after a healthy pregnancy, but suffered a HIE (hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy) event shortly after birth.

Her brain had gone without oxygen and, as we later found out, there was significant damage.

The first medical term that was given to us was HIE.

I did what no-one in hospital should do, I googled it.

Having never heard the term before I didn’t have a clue what it meant.

We’d been given a booklet from Bliss that had some information on it, but I wanted to know exactly what the prognosis was.

Now with hindsight, I fully understand that no-one can tell you how the future is going to pan out, and each child is wonderfully different, but I felt like I needed something more than a leaflet; I needed to grasp hold of a thing, a concept, hope.

When Heidi was about 4 weeks old we were transferred from NICU to the Children’s Unit at our local hospital.

We were called to a meeting with the consultant to discuss Heidi.

This was a no-nonsense meeting and boy did some of the comments hit me hard.

Words like “severely disabled” and “advanced care plan” rang in my ears.

Something good did come out of it though – the phrase “likely to be diagnosed with cerebral palsy” was used.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure there’s news that parents would be happier to hear, but for me this made sense.

I had heard of cerebral palsy, and because it was slightly familiar it didn’t seem as scary.

When we got out of that meeting, Steve (hubby) said “Lewis Hamilton’s brother has cerebral palsy, and he drives race cars”.

What? Really? Heidi might go on to be an F1 champion?

I knew it, I knew it was going to be alright!

Ok, so I may have got a little carried away there, but my google searches soon switched from “HIE” to “Nicholas Hamilton Racing Driver”.

In between watching the monitors that were hooked up to Heidi, I was watching YouTube clips of Nicholas, an inspirational guy who had beaten the odds to overcome his CP challenges.

It lifted me and gave me hope.

As Heidi’s got older, even though we are a “never say never” type of family, I’m pretty sure that she won’t be able to drive.

Our expectations are realistic and we’re hoping that one day unaided sitting may be achieved, but we take it a day at a time.

Our aim is for her to stay as healthy as possible, and to be surrounded by love.

Funnily enough though she does seem to enjoy watching car racing.

We often go as Steve volunteers on the Rescue Unit, mainly at Oulton Park and sometimes we’ve gone down to Silverstone.

She may not be behind the wheel but with the right pair of ear defenders she can certainly still be in on the action.

I know that for some people, getting a diagnosis, whether its cerebral palsy or something else, can be a really difficult time.

For us we found that it made life easier in terms of explaining how Heidi was, and for accessing the right support, but we don’t use it as a label for her.

She’s Heidi, and she isn’t defined by her cerebral palsy.

Our journey may have taken us on a different track to Nicholas but I often think of how he, unknowingly, gave me that glimmer of hope on a dark day.

If you ever get to read this Nicholas, thank you!

Firefly Blog

Real life stories, issues and experiences of day to day life by special needs parents and
healthcare professionals.

Sarah Kay

Meet Our Blogger

An honest (and hopefully positive!) chat through the rollercoaster journey we have found ourselves on; hopefully to raise awareness of HIE and support others who may be on their own journey.

View Sarah’s Profile

Become a Firefly Blogger

Would you like to write for Firefly? Join our blogger network of parents, therapists and professionals.

Get In Touch

Become a subscriber today

Join over 40,000 subscribers to our weekly newsletter with insightful articles just when you need them.

Join Mailing List

By using our site you agree to our use of cookies. Click here for more info.

Accept & Close

No Interest if paid in full in 4 months on

Purchases on £99+

UK Customers only. Subject to credit approval. See terms below

Paypal Credit

Pay now or pay over time with PayPal Credit. Just use PayPal Credit in PayPal checkout.

Subject to credit approval.

Purchases of £99+:

No Interest if paid in full in 4 months on purchases of £99 or more.

  • A minimum monthly payment is required and may or may not pay off the promotional purchase by the end of the 4-month period.
  • No interest will be charged on the purchase if you pay it off in full within 4 months. If you do not, interest will be charged on the purchase from the purchase date at the Purchase APR applicable to your account.
  • Any remaining balance due after the 4-month promotional period or any transactions under £99 will be charged interest at 19.9% p.a. (variable).

Purchases of £98.99 or less:

Buy now and pay over time with PayPal Credit when you spend £98.99 or less.

  • If you pay your balance in full each month by the payment due date that is on your statement, you can avoid paying interest.
  • Or, make minimum monthly payments, or any additional amount of your choosing, until you've paid off your balance according to your standard account terms. Please note, interest charges may apply.
  • We'll send you email reminders when your payments are due. You can also keep track of your account and view your statements online at any time.

About PayPal Credit

  • PayPal Credit is a reusable credit line available on purchases at thousands of stores that accept PayPal. It's also available for purchases on eBay and exclusively at thousands of other online stores. Plus, it comes with the same security and flexibility you trust from PayPal.
  • In order to maintain the 0% offer, you need to keep up monthly repayments and stay within your credit limit. Credit subject to status. Terms and conditions apply. UK residents only.

Please wait...