George is coming home!

We are now settling nicely into Euro 2024. It wouldn't be an international football competition without the fan favourite, lighting seeds and baddiel and skinners, "footballs coming home" belting out. (Well since 1996 at least)

I for one love the song and it takes me straight back to Euro 96, I was an 11 year old child enjoying a home tournament that was marred with a hospital stay.... I'd fractured my cheekbone whilst playing in the back garden.

What a tournament it was though, my idol of the time, Paul Gascoigne scoring one of the greatest international goals ever.

Following the 1990 world cup, my brother and I were gifted a goldfish each by our mum which were affectionately named Gary and Gazza, after Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne.

Gazzas goal against Scotland is probably my favourite goal of all time. The left footed flick over Colin Hendry followed by a right footed volley past Andy Goram into the Scotland net. What followed next was the infamous "dentist chair" celebration. I was to young to understand what it was all about, but I loved it.

It wasn't plain sailing for England to reach the semi finals but as a young lad I had hopes and dreams, England were going to win the Euros as far as I was concerned.

A hospital stay ensured I was gifted even more merchandise than I had already accumulated and life was good, if only it hadn't been for the Germans and the dreaded penalty shoot out spoiling the party.

I remember taking a bet with my consultant in the hospital. I was convinced England would beat Germany, but he assured me that they wouldn't and sadly he was right.

What I have I learned from that experience and other sporting escapades? What I have learned is that it's the hope that keeps you alive. Dreams can and do become shattered but until they do, the hope and dreams are a wonderful thing.

I have now watched 2 pretty underwhelming England, Euro2024 games, but still live in the hope that they could win the tournament and finally bring football home.

Sadly I've watched both without George and even watched one game by myself as Natalie was so fatigued that she had to go to bed.

This is the reality of our lives now. We spent 9 months dreaming of the life we would have with our first born child. A dream that was well and truely shattered shortly after his traumatic arrival into the world. I couldn't wait to share the experience if sport with George, the highs and lows and dreams being shattered but with the hope that one day they would come true and that we could celebrate them as a family.

George will never experience and enjoy the sport quite as we hoped but we have enjoyed dressing him in the replica kits and adorning him in the teams colours for his outfit of the days, but it will never replace the experience of standing on a terrace, cheering the team on.

Natalie and I have today returned back from a respite stay in London, a break that was gifted by my work and was much needed. Natalie and I haven't expedited 'normal life' since George's arrival just over 8 months ago. We haven't ventured far out of the house as a couple and are yet to experience family things with George.

The trip provided a perfect opportunity to escape what life has become and allowed us to decompress. We managed to do a lot of the typical London tourist things which was lovely, but we both felt extremely emotional that our first born child was unable to experience this trip with us. Hopefully one day he will be fit enough to but we were sad that he wasn't experiencing it with us as a first time for all.

Having a severely disabled child changes your outlook massively and you notice things that you wouldn't normally.

George will always have mobility issues and because of this we notice disabled or lack of disabled access more.

Natalie and I had always wanted to visit the tower of London and were lucky enough to visit it on this trip, but it was apparent just how much George would have to miss out on.

There were lots of adaptations to facilitate disabled people, but ultimately with buildings as old as the Tower, it is impossible to make them fully disabled friendly.

We will learn as we go with George and find as many opportunities as we can for him to experience the things that we take for granted.

Whilst waiting for a  connecting train Natalie and I bumped into the Sale Sharks Director of Rugby, Alex Sanderson. Those who know us know that we are big Sale Sharks fans and have followed them home and away for many years.

When I first started regularly attending Sale Sharks games they spent their seasons fighting for survival in the top flight of English rugby, and this is exactly the position they were in when I introduced Natalie to the joys of supporting Sale. We lived in hope of survival every year, but as time went by this hope changed from survival to title contenders. We haven't quite achieved it yet, but under Alex Sanderson, I believe that they will get there.

Alex was kind enough to offer his time and conversation only ended due to our train arriving at the platform.

He asked if we attended games and we explained that we did until George's arrival. We asked questions of him and the team and were surprised at just how honest his answers were. He was such a lovely guy and was happy to answer every question we asked, but touchingly he was more keen to find out about George and the HopeHouse hospice.

Maybe one day George and Alex's paths will cross and he will be able to meet our amazing son that he was so keen to learn about. Natalie and I would cherish a photo of George with the main man and maybe we can take in a Sale Sharks game as a family. We can hope and dream, just like we are with the football currently.

As much as I want football to come home, we are receiving a much better gift tomorrow. George is coming home! It has only been 3 days apart, but he is such a big part of our lives, it feels like an absolute life time and we can't wait to have him back.

As difficult as life is with him, it is our life and we are so lucky to have each other!