Why the ‘Life of Riley’?
The Lightning Seeds recorded a song called ‘The Life of Riley’ written by Ian Broudie after his own son Riley was born. The name stuck with Riley’s Dad and when his wife became pregnant, they resolved that if it was to be a boy, they would name him Riley.
Riley’s birth was traumatic in that both he and his Mum very nearly died due to complications, but luckily they both managed to survive. Whilst Riley was in intensive care, the nursing staff urged his parents to sing to him as his Dad had when he was still inside his Mum.
Riley was in hospital for six weeks, during which time ‘The Life or Riley’ was sung to him literally hundreds of times and Riley’s parents truly believe it contributed at least a small part to his recovery. There were many times when they noticed other people humming it whilst going about their work!
It was then that Riley’s Dad first noticed the relevance of the lyrics of the song to his family’s circumstances and he resolved to dedicate his life to celebrating the Life of Riley.
Riley’s condition has been diagnosed as diskinetic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which essentially means that all of his limbs may become spasticated at times and at other times they may be floppy. This is also complicated by dysphagia, which means he can feed only small amounts orally, and severe reflux.
Until he was three years old, Riley required feeding with a naso-gastric tube, which was unpleasant both for him and his Mum and Dad when he pulled it out because it would need replacing. Many of the photos in the gallery show Riley with the feeding tube in his nose. In May 2007, Riley underwent a gastrostomy operation in St Thomas’s hospital, which means the feeding tube is now directly inserted into his stomach via the abdomen. This has made life a lot easier for both Riley and his parents and explains why the Life of Riley Foundation has made Evelina Children's Hospital one of its beneficiary charities.
Riley is lucky to have parents who are dedicated to helping him achieve his potential, and he also benefits from a great deal of support from physiotherapists, occupational therapists, community paediatric nurses as well as a whole host of other health professionals. He attends the Advance Centre,
http://www.advancecentre.org.uk/, which provides some ground-breaking treatment for victims of brain injury.
Riley is also helping to develop some revolutionary seating solutions that are being developed at Great Ormond Street Hospital following some sponsorship from the charity, Action Medical Research. When complete the new seat will allow Riley to extend his limbs naturally but will encourage him to return to his normal seating position by using spring mechanisms. You can find out more by watching this four minute film.
As a result of all of this support, Riley is developing well and perhaps the most important thing of all is the fact that he is a very happy little boy, who is quick to laugh and brings enormous amounts of joy to those who know and love him.
Riley faces many challenges in the future, but all those who know him believe that he will overcome them with the support of his family and friends.
