A BIRDWELL mum who cares for her disabled son – and subsequently helped raise more than £11,000 – has been nominated for a Proud of Barnsley award.
Logan Smith, of Worsbrough Road, Birdwell, was born with hydrocephalus hypotonia a type of cerebral palsy which has stunted much of his development.
The four-year-old spent months in hospital when he was born where his mum, Cody Hepple, was told that Logan may ‘not make it’.
Logan spent around three to four months in a number of hospitals with Cody and the family, and was even diagnosed with heart failure and underwent brain surgery just days after being born.
He is non-verbal and was also diagnosed with global development delay and visual impairment but his mum admits he’s just like any other ‘happy little boy’.
Having set up a fundraiser in 2020 to get life-changing equipment for her son, Cody managed to raise thousands of pounds for his Eyegaze machine – a piece of equipment where you use your eyes to scroll rather than using a mouse.
They secured the equipment earlier this year – and Cody’s now gearing up Logan for his first stint at Greenacre school in September.
She said: “At the moment we’re still in the starting phase for the machine.
“Logan is due to start school at Greenacre in September and they’ll be able to do more things with the machine with him.
“I’m nervous about him going to school because it has always been just me and my partner looking after him.
“But if he likes it it will be brilliant for him – he’s always loved mixing with over kids.”
Upon hearing of hr nomination in the Carer of the Year category, Cody added: “It’s made me quite emotional.
“I’m just being a mum.
“I know it’s hard and tiring sometimes but I’m just doing what any other mum would do.
“I’m just doing what’s best for Logan.”
