The Children's Trust Lifeline

Charlie was, to me, perfect.

He's got two grown-up sisters,

so he was the centre of attention all the time.

He was very bubbly. He was alive, you know.

We was going to see his grandma and grandad in Spain.

We woke up in the morning. Charlie said he wanted to go

and see his great-nan.

When I went out, he was floating in the pool...

..so I screamed and jumped in.

Just praying for them not to take him.

I know how suddenly life can change.

How one moment everything's fine and the next moment, it's not.

Back in 2006, I was in a very high-speed,

and subsequently very highly publicised car crash.

I was pulled from the wreckage with extensive brain injuries.

The road to recovery was, for me, long and tough,

but it was a lot tougher for my family.

I've been extremely lucky - some brain injuries can leave

a person needing constant care and long-term rehabilitation.

Imagine how much worse that is when it happens to a child.

He was blue, he wasn't breathing.

We pulled into accident and emergency.

I just remember jumping out and screaming,

"Someone help my baby."

Charlie was in a coma for a week and a half.

His brain had been starved of oxygen by the accident,

meaning nobody could be sure how he would respond when he came round.

I sat and read to him, played his favourite songs

and then there's just no response. Really hard.

That was Charlie, laying in the bed,

one eye one way, one the other, you know.

It was now clear that Charlie had sustained serious brain injuries.

We didn't know if he'd ever speak or eat or talk or anything.

You know, we just didn't know,

nobody could give you any answers, and it was really, really lonely.

Thankfully, there is a charity dedicated to helping

families like Anne Marie's. It's called The Children's Trust

and it's the UK's leading charity for children with brain injuries.

I've supported The Children's Trust for years as Vice President -

and I've seen how this charity helps

young people with really complex health needs

rebuild their lives.

On behalf of The Children's Trust, I'm asking you to help these kids

and their families have the best life possible.

At The Children's Trust specialist rehabilitation centre

in Tadworth, Surrey,

they help children make the best recovery they can

by offering everything from physio

and hydrotherapy, to speech and language therapy.

The charity also aids children's psychological recovery

through music and play.

When Anne-Marie heard about the Children's Trust centre,

she was keen for Charlie to come and stay.

When he first came to The Children's Trust,

he didn't like being handled, and used to cry constantly.

They've worked very hard, especially Belinda, with his physio.

She's amazing, she's got him standing.

If Belinda's put him in a different position, she'll teach me

how to do the physio with him.

Like Charlie, many children who visit The Children's Trust

need lifelong care as a result of their brain injury.

So preparing the whole family for life once they leave

is also a key part of what goes on here.

The Children's Trust is an amazing place.

I've learned a lot so when we go home, we'll be OK.

THe Children's Trust really makes a difference.

What's so valuable about this place is the concentration

of passionate, caring experts in childhood brain injury,

all under one roof. The greatest research concentration

anywhere in the country, and that is a tremendous reassurance

for families when they're in shock,

and trying to come to terms with a huge change in their lives.

Vic Beauvoir has taken care of his grandson, Tom, for most of his life.

Three years ago, he received some devastating news.

My daughter phoned up.

In the background, I could hear a high powered engine

and sirens and things and she said, "Dad, you've got to come quick.

"Tom's had a serious accident and they don't expect him to survive."

Tom had a major brain injury and spent several hours in surgery.

Afterwards, the surgeon told them to prepare for the worst.

Just thought, "Oh, my God, please don't die, Tom.

"This is not real, this is not going to happen,

"please don't let it happen."

Things were looking desperate for Tom, who lay in a coma,

until a few weeks later, when they noticed some movement.

Oh, I couldn't believe it.

I thought, "God, he's going to survive",

but then you don't know whether he's blind

or if he's ever going to speak again,

or be able to swallow or he's going to be completely, you know,

just completely as he is on the bed.

You know, Tom, but not Tom.

Tom couldn't speak, so they handed him his mobile phone

and he began to type.

I could see in the darkness the Blackberry and it went,

"Grandad, you're snoring", you know, I thought, God, you know,

so I thought, "All right, Tom," you know, sort of thing.

I just wanted to be able to try and get better,

and stop being in the bed all the time just laying there doing nothing.

Literally nothing.

Tom came to the National Rehab Centre weighing only five stone.

But it wasn't long before he began to reap

the benefits of what the dedicated staff here had to offer.

Once I started to see improvement, I was getting confident

and thinking, why can't anything else get better?

I remember the first time I started walking again, with my physio,

I thought she was helping me and then I looked down

and she was not helping me at all and I just couldn't believe it,

I was just too happy,

it felt like I was walking through the air or something.

After lots of hard work and sheer determination,

Tom walked out of The Children's Trust on his own two feet,

a transformed boy.

Some of the staff were actually in tears. I was close to it,

and it was just one of the best days, really.

They've definitely given me back my life.

I didn't think I'd be able to do anything like this.

Everything I thought I wouldn't be able to do, I'm doing

because of The Children's Trust, so they were a big help.

I think life would have been completely different

without the Children's Trust. Thank you is never going to be enough.

It is hard to describe just how huge a difference this place has made

to children like Tom and Charlie, and hundreds of others.

But there are many more children with serious brain injuries

that the Trust would like to be able to help.

And this is where you come in!

Because I'm asking you to donate now

to this life-changing cause and help provide more brain injury experts

to work with children and their families across the UK.

Please go to the website...

..where you can donate.

If you haven't got internet access, please call.

And if you can't get through the first time,

please keep trying.

Telephone calls are free from most landlines.

Some networks and mobile operators will charge for these calls.

You can also donate £10 by texting...

Texts cost £10 plus your standard network message charge

and the whole £10 goes to the Children's Trust.

Full terms and conditions can be found

at www.bbc.co.uk/lifeline.

Or if you'd like to post a donation, please make your cheque

payable to the Children's Trust

and send it to Freepost, BBC Lifeline Appeal,

writing "Children's Trust" on the back of the envelope.

And if you want the charity to claim Gift Aid on your donation,

please include an e-mail or postal address

so that they can send you a Gift Aid form.

Thank you.