Three-year-old Dylan Blundell from Bamber Bridge near Preston bangs his head so hard he’s got a permanent lump.

Dylan has a genetic condition, can’t speak and because he has a high pain threshold he doesn’t even cry out.

Dad Jonathan said: “Dylan can wake up to 20 times a night and bang his head over and over so hard, his mum, Aimee and I, are constantly going in to settle him back to sleep, which can take hours.”

Now, thanks to an Emergency Equipment Loan of a specialist bed from Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children, Dylan no longer hurts himself at night. Jonathan and Aimee applied to their local statutory services for a specialist bed.  Unfortunately, this process can take many months so the family turned to Newlife, who quickly provided a high sided, padded bed.

Jonathan added: “Dylan’s condition means he feels the need to bang his head on any hard surface. This bed has made a massive difference to all our lives. We know that, although he’s banging his head on the sides as they’re padded we know it won’t hurt him. He still wakes for a few hours at night, but not as much, so we can sleep more too.”

Newlife is the only charity providing emergency loans of specialist equipment for disabled or terminally ill children, and aims to deliver the equipment within 72 hours.

Newlife’s Emergency Equipment Loan Service has already provided vital equipment to more than 1,000 children in urgent need since it was introduced five years ago, including 250 in the last year – a 16% increase on the previous year.

Carrick Brown, Newlife’s Senior Manager of the Care Services Department, said: “Through our Emergency Equipment Loan service we’re able to provide a child with desperately needed equipment when a situation has become critical.  We need £1million a year to keep this service running and meet the increasingly urgent needs of disabled children and their families.”

Please help us to help children like Dylan by making a donation to our Emergency Response Appeal here: https://newlife.support/GiveEEL