
This was not the sentence Natalie Thorogood was expecting back in 2019 : ‘Your child has been born with congenital cytomegalovirus’ (cCMV)’. Hearing this when her baby was 48 hours old, following a simple mouth swab as he failed his newborn hearing screening test, caused her world to crumble. Her son Finlay was treated with valganciclovir and although he is profoundly deaf in his left ear owing to complete nerve damage, he can hear perfectly well in his right ear. However the journey for Natalie was difficult and she knows the outcome could have been very different. She is really keen to spread awareness about CMV to save other parents going through the experience she had.
She has decided to climb Snowdon in May 2023 to both raise money for CMV Action to enable us to keep supporting families and also to raise awareness and help other prospective parents learn how they can reduce the risk of catching CMV.
Read Natalie’s full story and please support her if you can.