News
Fundraiser to help eight-year-old Runcorn girl walk
16 Dec 2023
A Runcorn mum and grandmother are taking on a 25K challenge to raise funds to help eight-year-old Ella-Rose learn to walk.
Ella-Rose Spencer, 8, has Down’s syndrome and West syndrome which causes epilepsy. Ella-Rose was in the intensive care unit after she was born for 11 weeks and underwent an operation to fix a hole in her heart. She was then diagnosed with visual developmental delay and at nine months started to have infantile spasms which are now controlled through medication.
Mum Emma Carmichael, 45, who also has a 14-year-old son Bailey, is fundraising for an Innowalk which can help Ella-Rose walk. She said
‘Ella’s time spent in hospital and having various treatments during the first year of her life meant she bypassed all her fundamental developmental stages.
‘However, I could see her ability and how much she loved to be called clever when she learnt, so in January 2019 Ella began targeted training therapy with The Movement Centre.’
‘Within six months Ella went from having little head control to nearly all her upper body control. Her development was amazing and she continually beat her targets.’
‘Unfortunately this also resulted in Ella’s kneecap being dislocated and fused out of place and she underwent surgery beginning of 2021. This was a complete success and meant that in theory, nothing was stopping Ella beginning to walk now.’
‘But since then, Ella’s physiotherapy input for recovery from her operation has been limited. She won’t tolerate a standing frame anymore due to the trauma and pain it caused previously.’
‘Then we discovered the Innowalk, a piece of equipment which would give her the same chances in life as any other child. It supports her body while getting her legs moving, and to gradually get into the standing position while her feet and knees are doing the walking.’
‘We have recently been lucky enough to have a trail of the equipment and I was blown away by Ella and how much she loved it – she surpassed all the targets. They were set to five to ten minutes a day – by the end of the trial she used it for over 25mins at a higher speed and a much higher incline than what we expected. But it’s also the other things that have changed, Ella’s moods have been lovely and giggly, she’s chattier and saying more words and gone from struggling sitting to holding herself upright for ten mins.’
‘If this is what she can do in just 2 weeks, the possibilities are endless if she owns one for herself! The ultimate dream is to one day see Ella walk, and I know she can do this if she has the right resources.’
The Innowalk costs over £29,000 and so far, the family has raised around £3,500 through bake sales and other events.
This month Emma and her mother Ann Carmichael, 68, also from Runcorn, are taking on Tree of Hope’s 25K challenge, in which individuals are invited to cover 25km in any way of their choosing (walk, run, swim, cycle, wheel, or anything else).
Other forthcoming fundraising events include a Cake Bake and Hot Chocolate Event at Hays Travel in Runcorn Shopping Centre from 12pm to 4pm with a raffle offering prizes of a Christmas Eve hamper and a £50 travel gift card, and the Play Away Day Nursery in Langdale Road is running a Christmas Hamper raffle at their entrance.
Emma also sells baked goods online to raise funds at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094080825657
Ella-Rose’s family is being supported by children’s charity Tree of Hope which helps families fundraise for children like Ella-Rose with healthcare needs which cannot be provided by the NHS and provides charity status to benefit from gift aid, corporate support while also providing donor reassurance.
Tree of Hope Head of Marketing and Family Support Georgina Lowry said: ‘We’re delighted to hear that Ella-Rose’s family are so well supported by friends and their community and wish Emma and Ann all the best with her 25K challenge which we are really pleased to support the family with’
For more information or to sponsor Emma and Ann, visit https://www.treeofhope.org.uk/ella-rose-spencer/
