Amelia - Living with Cerebral Palsy
Donation protected
Our first born child came into the world in Sept 2013. A beautiful baby girl named Amelia. At just two weeks old she became very unwell and was rushed to hospital. We were told that she had contracted an infection in her blood and required urgent medical care. Amelia was in and out of hospital for most of her first year requiring intravenous medication to fight the infection and medical treatment to stop the seizures that the infection had caused. Devastatingly as a consequence of the infection and seizures Amelia suffered brain damage and has now been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy affecting her legs and her mobility.
Our lowest point came when Amelia was 3 years old and a medical professional told us that our daughter may never walk! Amelia gets her determination from her Mother and we could see she just wanted to explore and walk like other children. My wife has dedicated time every day of Amelia’s life to maximize her potential to walk, completing exercises to make her stronger and to ensure she is as independent as possible. Amelia still does her exercises every day, it’s a ‘normal’ part of Amelia’s routine and their hard work is paying off. She started in Reception class at school this year and is able to walk to school with a walking frame and around the classroom using her sticks. She is slower than the rest of the class and still falls, but she is up with her friends and is a happy little girl!
Amelia still needs constant support, as she will fall multiple times every day. She doesn’t cry like you would expect, just dusts herself off with a smile and carries on playing.She needs a wheelchair for school trips or long walks as her way of walking is very tiring. She is now 5 and we couldn’t be prouder parents.
We try to give her a normal life, but it's always hard on her and us as a family, to give her all the care that she needs at home and keep up with the constant hospital appointments. She had an operation to help with her mobility last year and she will require more in the future. Amelia sees an NHS Physiotherapist to advise on exercise, her walking and any equipment she might need, but now she has started school the NHS Physiotherapy we are entitled to is becoming less and less.
Amelia wanted to try gymnastics classes like her friends and we gave it a go, sadly this and many other sports aren’t set up well for disabled kids and we were forced to stop going. She swims every week and is on a 3 year waiting list for Horse-riding for the disabled! Amelia hasn’t mastered bike riding yet as her balance is affected, but adapted trikes cost hundreds of pounds and affording this is not an option for us.
We have created this donation page to assist us with accessing some private Physiotherapy treatment and to have advice on Amelia’s foot splints to see if we can make walking easier for her. Typically kids with Cerebral palsy get heavier but not stronger as they get older and can loose their ability to walk. We don’t want this to happen to Amelia. Her leg muscles are tight from spasticity and this may mean further operations and equipment as she grows, more equipment to help her with her day to day life, at home, school and outside, so she can be more independent.
We have been given the necessary treatment that the NHS can give, but there is lots of more treatments and equipment that will be beneficial for her, that will have to be financed privately.
We just want for our daughter to grow up to be a normal kid, and we will never give up, to give her that, to do whatever necessary for her to achieve that, for her to have a brilliant future.
To the people who are able to help. We thank you for helping to make life easier for our daughter Amelia.
Thanks
Paulo (Dad)
Our lowest point came when Amelia was 3 years old and a medical professional told us that our daughter may never walk! Amelia gets her determination from her Mother and we could see she just wanted to explore and walk like other children. My wife has dedicated time every day of Amelia’s life to maximize her potential to walk, completing exercises to make her stronger and to ensure she is as independent as possible. Amelia still does her exercises every day, it’s a ‘normal’ part of Amelia’s routine and their hard work is paying off. She started in Reception class at school this year and is able to walk to school with a walking frame and around the classroom using her sticks. She is slower than the rest of the class and still falls, but she is up with her friends and is a happy little girl!
Amelia still needs constant support, as she will fall multiple times every day. She doesn’t cry like you would expect, just dusts herself off with a smile and carries on playing.She needs a wheelchair for school trips or long walks as her way of walking is very tiring. She is now 5 and we couldn’t be prouder parents.
We try to give her a normal life, but it's always hard on her and us as a family, to give her all the care that she needs at home and keep up with the constant hospital appointments. She had an operation to help with her mobility last year and she will require more in the future. Amelia sees an NHS Physiotherapist to advise on exercise, her walking and any equipment she might need, but now she has started school the NHS Physiotherapy we are entitled to is becoming less and less.
Amelia wanted to try gymnastics classes like her friends and we gave it a go, sadly this and many other sports aren’t set up well for disabled kids and we were forced to stop going. She swims every week and is on a 3 year waiting list for Horse-riding for the disabled! Amelia hasn’t mastered bike riding yet as her balance is affected, but adapted trikes cost hundreds of pounds and affording this is not an option for us.
We have created this donation page to assist us with accessing some private Physiotherapy treatment and to have advice on Amelia’s foot splints to see if we can make walking easier for her. Typically kids with Cerebral palsy get heavier but not stronger as they get older and can loose their ability to walk. We don’t want this to happen to Amelia. Her leg muscles are tight from spasticity and this may mean further operations and equipment as she grows, more equipment to help her with her day to day life, at home, school and outside, so she can be more independent.
We have been given the necessary treatment that the NHS can give, but there is lots of more treatments and equipment that will be beneficial for her, that will have to be financed privately.
We just want for our daughter to grow up to be a normal kid, and we will never give up, to give her that, to do whatever necessary for her to achieve that, for her to have a brilliant future.
To the people who are able to help. We thank you for helping to make life easier for our daughter Amelia.
Thanks
Paulo (Dad)
Organizer
Paulo Moura
Organizer
England