His mother Cadence Smith said she and husband Scott had taken him to the hospital for numerous tests to find the cause of seizures, which they first noticed when he was about six months old.
“At first, it was just like he was staring into space and couldn’t be distracted out of it,” she said.
“Then he started having head-dropping seizures, which can happen quite violently and often, which make him really upset.”
Monty most recently had an extended video electroencephalogram, EEG, to monitor his seizure activity.
“They were found to be non-epileptic and will resolve by the time he starts school, so that’s one of our biggest concerns crossed off the list,” Mrs Smith said.
She said Monty has had eye turns since he was born.
“During our visit to his eye specialist, she mentioned his dysmorphic facial features and referred us to the children’s hospital,” she said.
“We are still waiting for his genetic test results to hopefully give us more information on the seizures, and his developmental delays.”
Mr and Mrs Smith have three other children: Sebastian, nine; Victor, six; and Tessa, four, and run an Airbnb and beauty business from their home, while Mr Smith also works full-time as a builder.
“It’s been a stressful and worrying time, but we have had great support from our family, especially my mum, Amanda, and Scott’s mum, Robyn,” Mrs Smith said.
“We are now working on his developmental delays with physiotherapy, as he is still not rolling or making any attempts of crawling.
“He is only just starting to babble and make good eye contact, but he is giving us proper smiles and interactions, so that’s encouraging.”
Last year’s Good Friday Appeal raised a record-breaking $23,368,724 for paediatric care, $2.5-million of which was shared between six regional health services, including Grampians Health.
Dimboola’s event starts at 9.30am at a cost of $5 per child, with an evening concert beginning at 6pm.
The entire April 9, 2025 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
