Help Katie get hip surgery

Katie Byrne is 17 years old, she has cerebral palsy, a dysplastic hip, twisted femur and pelvis and a fracture in her pelvis.

She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 17 months and it was first noticed that her hip was dysplastic (dislocated) at the age of 4.

For years I have fought Katies corner to give her the best life she could ask for but that came with a lot of challenges. From the age of 2 Katie has gone through hours and hours of physiotherapy, going to the gym, gone through 3 wheelchairs, 3 walkers and more crutches than I care to remember.

When Katie was 6 years old,she travelled to st louis children’s hospital in Missouri to undergo Selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery (SDR) that got her out of her wheelchair and up walking independently for the 1st time in her life at the age of 7. This was only possible because people from all over Ireland and the world donated to the fundraising drive my we set up at the time. We had to raise €60,000 to get Katie SDR and muscle lengthening surgery which gave her the opportunity to be a lot more independent than she was when she was confined to her wheelchair.

She had so much more freedom to do things that would never have been possible if she didn’t go for SDR but because of her dysplastic hip her legs are starting to deteriorate and she is slowly becoming more dependent on crutches and her wheelchair. This is something I really don’t want to happen to Katie as she will be restricted again on being able to do the things she wants to do in her life. 

For years we have been told that Katie is too weak to have surgery here in Ireland so again we had to look elsewhere to see if we could get Katie the help shenl needs and find a doctor who will operate on her.

Katie and I travelled to the Paley institute in Poland on December 5th 2022 to see Dr Paley who has said he can help her with her dysplastic hip. He can operate on her hip and pelvis and put everything back the way it’s supposed to be. We must travel to the Paley Institute in Florida and stay there for approx 7 weeks for this surgery as it is such a complexed surgery Dr Paley wants to be on hand should any issues arise following Katies surgery. The cost of this surgery, physiotherapy, equipment, travel and living expenses for 6 weeks while we are in Florida and physiotherapy on my return to Ireland is coming in at a price of €300,000.

There is no way on this earth we can afford to pay outright for this surgery so again we have to fundraise to get to Florida and pay for all the other expenses listed above.

This is where you come in. I an asking you if there is any possibility of sending a donation of any amount to help us raise the €300,000 to get Katie to Florida for this life changing surgery. I understand if you cannot help but if there is a way that you can I would be very grateful to you.

You can find us on Facebook at Katie's fight to Keep walking. 

Thanks everyone

Antoinette & Katie