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Amelia's Helping Hands
Amelia’s Helping Hands
For those of
you who don’t already know, our daughter Amelia has Cerebral Palsy (CP). Due to
the ongoing strain that cerebral palsy is having on her body, Amelia is due to
have multi-level surgery in July 2014. This will involve lengthening her
hamstrings and calves, and orthopaedic surgery to her feet. Â Amelia will be in hospital for a few days and
will wear below the knee casts for 6 weeks. This is a big operation for Amelia
which will take approximately 6-12 months to recover from. During that time
Amelia will require intensive rehab.
For anyone
that has met Amelia, you will know what a very special little girl she is.
Although she gets very frustrated by her disability, she is absolutely
determined to not let it beat her. She has a dream that one day she will be
able to walk unaided, and we, as her parents, want to ensure we give her every
opportunity to try and achieve her dream.
Although the
NHS provides some support and equipment, such as a wheelchair and frame, it is
limited and doesn’t meet all of Amelia’s needs. To help Amelia try and achieve
her dream, she will need access to therapies 2-3 times a week, which will
include physiotherapy, osteopathy and hydrotherapy and some specialist
equipment.  A ‘Freewheel off road
wheelchair kit’ will enable Amelia to access the beach, woods and other ‘off
road’ areas and activities that are currently inaccessible to her. This will
help with her mental wellbeing and inclusion in activities with family and her
peers.
 In order to fund all of this we will need to
raise £28,000, as you can imagine this is a sum that we cannot possible achieve
without help.
Thank you so
much for taking the time to read this. We really appreciate every donation
giving no matter what the amount. It all adds up and will make a huge difference
to Amelia’s life.
Amelia has a
‘wish List’ of things that will help her achieve her goal. Here are a few of
the items and their costs:
£25.00 will
pay for half an hour’s osteopathy
£95.00 will
pay for an hour’s physiotherapy or hydrotherapy
£160 will
buy a slatted stool for physio & OT
£300 will
buy a therapy bench for physio & OT
£575 will
buy a Freewheel off road wheelchair kit
£3,900 will
pay for a two week block of therapy at The Bobath Centre
If you would
like to follow Amelia’s story as please have a look at our face book account - https://www.facebook.com/AmeliasHelpingHands
All funds
raised will go to Tree of Hope, who will release money to us as and when
we need it. Â If we exceed the target
amount, or the money is not needed for any reason, the funds will go to other
sick or needy children.
Amelia’s story so far….
Amelia was born 9 weeks early by emergency
caesarean due to life threatening complications. She was immediately taken away
as she required urgent help with her breathing. This was a frightening time and
emotionally traumatic for everyone. Amelia then spent the next four weeks
in the neonatal unit at East Surrey Hospital before she was finally well enough
to come home.
Over the next few months we noticed that
Amelia wasn’t reaching her milestones, including not being able to sit unaided
at a year old. We were repeatedly told by professionals that it was expected
delay due to her prematurity. Through perseverance we finally persuaded her
paediatrician to refer her for a developmental assessment at 16 months old.
Following this assessment the doctor agreed with our concerns and Amelia was
referred for an MRI brain scan.
Nothing could prepare us for the huge shock
we were about to receive from the results of Amelia’s scan. Amelia had
extensive PVL which is a type of brain damage. We were advised that Amelia
would have significant neuro developmental disability and that whilst it was
too early to predict the final outcome of the disability, the MRI scan report
was not very favourable in terms of prognosis. We knew at this point that life
was about to significantly change for us all, but especially for Amelia, and
the uphill battle was about to begin.
It was following the results of Amelia’s
brain scan that our fears were finally confirmed when she was diagnosed with
spastic diplegia cerebral palsy.
Amelia is now 9 year old and is unable to
walk unaided due to her cerebral palsy. She uses a walking frame for short
distances and a wheelchair for longer journeys or when she is tired or sore.
Amelia attends a mainstream school, but she finds school and other activities very
tiring due to the strain her disability has on her body and energy levels.
Amelia has a range of needs that are managed
by a team of paediatricians, paediatric neurodisability specialists,
physiotherapists, occupational therapists and orthopaedic surgeons who all work
together to help Amelia. As you can guess, Amelia’s diary is rather busy!
Because of the strain that cerebral palsy
has had on her body, Amelia is due to have multi-level surgery in July 2014.
This will involve lengthening her hamstrings and calves, and orthopaedic
surgery to her feet. Amelia will be in hospital for a short stay and will wear
below the knee casts for 6 weeks. This is a big operation for Amelia which will
take approximately 6-12 months to recover from. During that time Amelia will
require intensive rehab.