From Evie-Jean’s Mum

Evie-Jean and her Level Water swimming teacher

“Our daughter is ten years old. She has Noonan syndrome, a visual impairment, and is deaf. She also has significant mobility challenges and struggles to walk without assistance. When she was born, she experienced more than 100 seizures a day. At that time, we had no idea of the extent of her difficulties, and we were thrown immediately into a world of fear and uncertainty.

We started our journey with Water Babies when she was very young, and it was incredibly traumatic for both of us. She would have seizures in the water. Every lesson became a reminder of everything we didn’t yet understand, everything we feared, and everything we were grieving. Since then, I have struggled for years to even step inside a swimming pool with her. The thought of trying again, let alone imagining she might ever learn to swim felt impossible.

Then we discovered Level Water Swimming. When we learned about what your charity offers, we were absolutely overwhelmed. It felt like, for the first time, there was something designed precisely for children like ours. Something safe. Something kind. Something hopeful. We knew immediately that this could be life-changing, even if we didn’t dare imagine how much.

Her very first lesson brought all that old trauma flooding back. She screamed the entire time. She clung to her swimming teacher, Abaigh, as if her life depended on it. You could see in her face that she was reliving past fear and confusion, and it broke my heart. I worried we were putting her through something too big, too overwhelming. I worried I’d made a terrible mistake.

But then Abaigh, patient, calm, steady Abaigh, just held that space for her. She was firm and consistent but endlessly compassionate. Slowly, gently, lesson by lesson, something extraordinary happened: Evie-Jean began to trust. First Abaigh, then the water, and eventually herself.

Two terms later, she now looks forward to her lessons every single week. She beams as soon as she sees Abaigh. They have built a bond that is so stunningly pure and rooted in trust that it moves me to tears even trying to describe it. Abaigh has given her something far bigger than just swimming, she has given her safety, confidence, belief, and joy.

And she’s given me healing too. I have been able to attend every lesson. I’ve even been able to get back into the water myself, something I never thought I would be able to do again because of the trauma we both experienced. Abaigh has supported me through that as much as she has supported my daughter. That kindness is something I will carry forever.

Last year, for the first time in ten years, we were able to go swimming as a family on holiday. I still cannot write that sentence without crying. For years, watching other families play happily in the pool broke my heart because I believed we would never be able to be that family. And yet, because of Level Water Swimming, we were.

And the progress… it is just unbelievable.

Evie-Jean can now walk in the water unassisted.

She can lie on her back with only the tiniest bit of support, kicking her legs and moving her arms.

She is working so hard on swimming independently on her front, and she is so close. She has even managed one full second of independent swimming, a moment we celebrated as if she had crossed an ocean.

These are things we once believed she would never, ever be able to do.

To say this programme has changed our daughter’s life is not enough. It has changed our lives. It has given us hope where there was fear. It has given us confidence where there was trauma. It has given us memories we dreamed of but never expected to have.

Andy, we thank you, truly, from the bottom of our hearts. What Level Water Swimming provides is not just a service; it is a lifeline. A gift. A doorway into experiences that families like ours often cannot access. You have made possible something that once felt unreachable.

You have changed our daughter’s world. And ours.

Thank you, more than words can express.”