Sam and his Huggy

A short clip of Sam opening a 'Huggy' one of our amazing Friends found for him.
This is our new buddy Sam. Sam is 2-years old and lives with his family in Ashford, Kent. Sam’s special comforter is his ‘Huggy’, the comforter bought from John Lewis when he was born. Huggy is one of the few words he has learnt to say and Mum has been trying so hard to get hold of more of them. Sam recently lost Huggy while on holiday and they are devastated, he has one more but this is sadly not enough for the future and they worry that he may lose another as he does not understand yet about keeping them safe.
Sam was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition called Sturge Weber Syndrome Type 3 at 9 months old. His parent's lives were turned upside when he had his first seizure at 9 months old. Initially, doctors hoped his seizures could be controlled with medication, but his condition worsened rapidly and he was seizing every two minutes. He was transferred urgently to Great Ormond Street Hospital, however, he continued to rapidly deteriorate. They were left with no choice but for Sam to have a Hemispherectomy - for the right side of his brain to be completely disconnected and partially removed as an emergency operation. This was two weeks after his first birthday.
Sam has recovered amazingly well, he has severe cerebral palsy and has severe issues with his sight as a result of the operation, he can only use one arm, and also has a developmental delay of which they do not know how severe it will be until he is a bit older. His lifeline throughout has been his Huggy.
Huggy is a John Lewis Hippo Comforter, he has grey and white stripes. There were a few toys in this range but it is the comforter Sam loves.
Huggy goes everywhere with Sam, it means everything to him. He is always in his hand everywhere he goes.
He has one Huggy left now, he desperately needs as many as we can find as they mean so much to him. As Sam insists on taking Huggy everywhere with him he’s at more of a risk of going missing as Sam isn’t able to understand about keeping him safe and not losing him.