Help Emma get a wheelchair to keep her MerryPaws dream alive

In 2016, Emma was diagnosed with cancer. Intense chemotherapy, radiotherapy and brachytherapy has left her with a multitude of debilitating side effects, one of which is radiation induced lumbosacral plexopathy (RILP), this is a very rare side effect of the treatment.

The radiotherapy and brachytherapy have basically fried the main nerves in her pelvis so the messages to move her legs and feel them do not get sent along the nerves from her brain to her legs and feet and vice versa.

Symptoms of RILP are numbness, pain, constant tingling, stabbing and electric shocks, cramps, fatigue, muscle weakness and loss of balance.

The condition is chronic and irreversible, and will lead to a significant deterioration in her ability to function independently. 

Since being diagnosed just two years ago, she has already lost most of the power in her legs and struggles daily with excruciating pain, making it increasingly difficult to walk without falling, increasing her pain levels and becoming fatigued.

Despite this, Emma is determined to try and continue doing what she loves best. Giving dogs their best life when their mums and dads go on holiday. A job she loves with all her heart. She says of all of what she has been through, the thought of no longer being able to walk or walk the dogs, is the worst torture. She simply cannot imagine a life not outdoors with those waggy tails.

To continue working, she needs a wheelchair.

She has applied for the Personal Independence Payment which is a payment given to help those with disabilities cover the extra costs of living e.g. a wheelchair, ramps, converting the home to be able to live in it etc. Ironically, because she walks the dogs, even though it leaves her unable to do anything else, not even to stand and cook tea, she has not been given the mobility allowance which would help her put towards a wheelchair and continue to work in the job she loves.

For this reason we have created this fundraiser in order for Emma to be able to get the chair she needs to keep her MerryPaws dream alive....