X Factor winner fighting to raise awareness for son with cerebral palsy
Myles Stephenson is fighting at Misfits Boxing tonight to raise awareness for his three-year-old son Shiloh who has cerebral palsy.
Stephenson is one-quarter of music group Rak-Su, who became the first boy band to X Factor in 2017. The 32-year-old appeared on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! two years later where he finished in seventh place. Stephenson is now putting himself in unfamiliar territory as he makes his boxing debut against fellow singer DTG at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
“When we had Shiloh, we thought all was perfect," Stephenson told Mirror Fighting. "There were no problems or issues raised during birth. It got to about seven months and we picked up that Shiloh was holding his hand scrunched, like a fist with his thumb in between his fingers. It was a long-winded process to get him referred to the doctors, almost about 18 months."
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Shiloh was diagnosed with left-sided hemiplegic cerebral palsy, a type of brain damage that affects the movements of right-sided limbs. "We didn't really know what that entailed, I had heard of cerebral palsy but didn't know much about it. Shiloh has missed quite a lot of milestones, there were a number of things he couldn’t do. It’s showing more now that he’s getting older and can walk, we can see the effect of cerebral palsy more prominently.”
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Stephenson is not alone in his boxing journey as Shiloh is obsessed with the sport, although he is too young to know what his dad has signed up for. Shiloh won't be in attendance to watch Stephenson's fight tonight, but the singer knows his youngster will be watching on proudly from home.
“The reason that I wanted to do this is to show him that if you set your mind to something you can do it," Stephenson added. "I didn’t know how to box seven months ago. It’s the same story I want to teach him. I’m not saying the process of me learning how to box is just as hard as someone with cerebral palsy learning how to do their jacket up, but if you keep working hard at it you will do it."
Stephenson has been working with non-profit organisation Breathe AHR to educate himself on the effects of cerebral palsy. The singer knows that Shiloh's condition will be a hard and tedious journey, but has taken confidence from seeing children with the same condition overcoming their struggles.
"Breathe invited me to one of their workshops and I saw the intensive physiotherapy they do," he added. "I saw an 11-year-old boy open a packet of crisps for the first time in his life after five days with the organisation. As a parent, that puts me in good spirits because I know there is light at the end of the tunnel."
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