The mum of a “severely epileptic” toddler has pleaded to the public for donations towards funding life-changing private treatment.
19-month-old Tia Holt has been diagnosed with a severe complex epilepsy.
Before this recent diagnosis – which is said to have “drastically affected Tia’s lifestyle” – and after spending a total of 11 days in hospital, where she had seizures ongoing for seven hours in clusters, doctors at the Royal Blackburn Hospital had previously found Tia to have a combination of three types of epilepsy – including a rare form of Infantile Spasms – but are now at a loss of what to do going forward.
This has lead her mother, Chloe Cox, to make the vital decision to seek private treatment.
Speaking to The Lancashire Telegraph on the recent diagnosis, which “didn’t come as a shock” but was nevertheless “upsetting”, Miss Cox said: “We got an EEG put in place and [the doctors] came back that to say Tia had got worse with multiple types of epilepsy.
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“She has anything from 50 to 200 little episodes a day.
“It’s classed as a disability and it’s like looking after a baby because she cannot sit up or walk [so] it’s very hard”.
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She continued: “[Tia] was crying and screaming because they scare her and the doctors did not know what they could do to help her, so I found a private hospital where they have a dedicated specialist in epilepsy in children”.
Miss Cox has identified a specialist able to offer “life-changing” treatment to Tia at the Cheadle-based The Alexandra Hospital, but sadly, the costs – which start at £150 to £250 for the first appointment, with numbers tallying up as treatment plans and appointments continue – are not affordable for the mum alone, which is why she has launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise the funds needed.
“It just feels like we are back to square one.” Chloe added.
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“They still do not know if she will be able to walk, so we are just taking it day by day [but we haven’t] got months to wait [as] it could affect her brain”.
Although Chloe admits that Tia still continues to smile and laugh because “she is used to the seizures now”, she has said that her “biggest fear” is that the toddler will one day have a seizure that is so severe she “won’t be able to get her out of”.
Over £3,400 has been raised for Tia’s treatment via the GoFundMe page so far, which Chloe has said she is “so overwhelmed” by.
There is still some way to go before hitting the crucial £5,000 target, but Miss Cox has also made sure to say that as donations continue to rise, any extra funds that are raised above the target amount that is needed, will then be “donated to a children’s epilepsy charity… [to] help other children with this awful illness”.
Every penny counts, and all donations can be made here.
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All the free things you can get with a Great Manchester Run finisher’s medal this year
Danny Jones
What’s the best part about doing the Great Manchester Run, we hear you ask? All the freebies, of course. You’ll be glad to hear there are more free things than ever for finishers this year.
More than 35,000 runners are set to take on the challenge, be it the half marathon or the 10k, and we firmly believe every single one of these legends should be entitled to as much free stuff as possible.
If it were up to us, they wouldn’t pay for anything all day, but hey, we make don’t make the rules.
So yeah, without further ado, here are all the freebies you can get for taking part in the Great Manchester 2025.
Free stuff and offers for Great Manchester Runners to cop in 2025
Without further ado, here are a tonne of freebies, discounts and deals you can grab by simply flashing your finisher’s medals:
Credit: The Manc/Supplied
Dishoom –Complimentary 330ml Kingfisher/Kingfisher Zero (0.0%) for anyone with anyone dining with a finisher’s medal.
Blacklock –Free glass of fizz on us with your medal.
Maray – Free glass of fizz/pint (or non-alcoholic beer/soft) for anyone with a medal who is dining on Sunday
Electric Shuffle – Free house wine, prosecco or pint for anyone with a 2025 medal.
Salon Madre – 2-4-1 margaritas all day Sunday for anyone with a race medal.
Suki Suki – Free bao bun for anyone with a medal.
Refuge/Kimpton Clocktower Hotel – 100 free pints of Manchester Union Beer (first come, first served)
Hello Oriental – Discounted soft serve ice cream, plus a free beer or soft drink with any meal for all finishers
The Shack – Flash your medal to claim a free glass of Prosecco or beer, plus parties with medals get 20% off their food bill.
Dough Religion (House of Social) – half price slice at Manchester Jazz Festival on Sunday
The purpose of this happy hour spotting app has definitely been a topic of discussion between friends while over a few drinks on a night out, and now this idea has been brought to life.
Titled ‘Hoppy’, the all-new app shows you all the best happy hours in Manchester, even going as far as planning nights out for you and telling you what times each venue is hosting their exclusive offers.
Crazy Pedro’s are just one of the bars featured on this Happy Hour app.Trof is another venue that has a happy hour offering and has made its way onto the app.
Whether you’re after £6 margs at Ramona, two for one cocktails at Rewind or £4 draught pints and cider over at Arcane Bar, this app spells everything out for you plain and simple.
They even go as far as using their social media accounts to plan nights out in Manchester to make sure you get the most bang for your buck.
In a post on their Instagram, they plan out the ultimate Tuesday night in the Northern Quarter, making the most of the various happy hours in the neighbourhood.
The happy hour app stops off at multiple pubs and bars, including frequently visited watering holes like Wolf at the Door, Trof, Bay Horse Tavern and Smithfield Social, before ending the night at Crazy Pedro’s.
Sounds like all the ingredients for the perfect crawl, if you ask us.
Revolución de Cuba, has a huge marg menu, is another drinks spot on Hoppy.Mother Mary’s serves some seriously good Guinness alongside some savvy savings too.
Go on, tell us looking at those hasn’t made you thirsty…
Next time you go out for drinks, why not download this happy hour spotting app along for the ride with you, and you won’t only thank yourself but your bank account will too.
‘Hoppy’ is available on the App Store now for everyone to make the most of their next night out and make finding the best happy hours in Manchester even easier HERE.
See you at the pub – provided happy hour is still on, of course.