Maxim was born with a severe infection which caused oxygen deprivation, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at just 10 days old due to severe brain damage. From the moment we were told this news we vowed to do everything we could to help him. Through the journey of trying to give Maxim the best chance at improving and fighting the odds, we found The Anat Baniel Method of NeuroMovement and from his first sessions we could see progress. Raising a child takes a village, this could be no more true for the parents of a special needs child. The costs are astronomical and we had the support of our friends and family every step of the way.

​

ABM NeuroMovement was not available in South Africa and we joined a few families to keep bringing practitioners out to SA from USA. Together with Terry, the mom of Maxim's best friend - Paige, who also has Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy and Cortical Visual Impairment, we started ABM training in the USA to bring this wonderful work to South Africa and be able to constantly work with our own children.

Maxim very unexpectedly passed away on 1 September 2016 just one month before his 3rd birthday and my graduation in the USA. My husband and I decided that I would complete my training as this is the path that our hero placed us on.

​

Due to Maxim's Cortical Visual Impairment the main colour he could see was red and we had 1064 red balloons released at this Memorial service to celebrate every day that Maxim spent with us.

​

To honour his memory and help as many children as possible get the chance they deserve to beat the odds, we opened the Red Balloon Foundation to raise funds for Neurological Rehabilitation through NeuroMovement…. Because every child deserves a chance!