Help young Sophie to an easier life

Day 60 today 07.06.18. 2 thirds of the way through my challenge of 90 days no alcohol. Please continue to sponsor me Ive since found a brand new electric wheelchair for £1550.00 since I wrote the bit below, which is only a few quid more than the converter kit so I am now going for that. The story below was from when I started about 9 months ago. Things have changed since then, Sophie has since been given a very nice wheel chair her mum still pushes her. So Instead of trying to raise £2,500.00 for a brand new electric wheel chair instead I am aiming for £1,200.00 to get a conversion kit supplied and fitted to Sophie's chair which will make the chair run on electric, and make Sophie's life a little bit easier. I'm doing this purely as a friend of the family, I've not been asked by the family for anything & they wasn't after handouts. Sophie is the same age as my daughter, I can only imagine the daily struggles they all as a family go through. I am not running a marathon as first intended to raise the rest of the money, instead I am doing something a LOT LOT harder. 90 Day challenge, 90 days off of that lovely juice adults call alcohol. I'm doing this for my own reasons & I want to complete this challenge successfully and I know sponsors from my friends will help me, whilst helping Sophie. I thank you all very much for your donations/sponsors  That is all Terry Ive spent the past five years or so raising money for Cancer Research and Macmillan cancer support, because those charities are close to my heart, after losing my mother and numerous other family and friends to the dreaded diesease. Millions and millions are raised each and every year for these charities  and still people are dying around me to cancer.  So this time around I want to be able to make a differnce and help where I can along with the help of those of you kind enough to donate. My good old friend, Donna Sturgess (Precious) & her husband Steve, have a beautiful and wonderful daughter called Sophie. Sophie is 13, always smiling & a happy teenage girl. However,at the age of 4 Sophie started showing signs of the diesease Ataxia (link about ataxia below). Sophie couldnt run like other 4-year olds and kept falling over.  Donna and Steve both put it down to Sophie just being clumsy, as you would. Sophie was then referered for hearing checks to see if it had something to do with that, but nothing. The next few years Sophie would complain of pain in her legs whilst walking to school (as most kids do), however this wasnt the typical whining of a lazy child walking to school. Within a couple of years they were taking turns with their friends on the school run, giving Sophie piggy-backs, as she just couldnt make the full walk to school; it was too painful. Donna's brother-in-law (a doctor) suggested she had signs of a different diesease similar to that of Ataxia. However, once refered to Great Ormond Street Hospital, as a result of his observation, she was diagnosed at the age of 8 with Ataxia. She now uses a wheelchair to get to most places now, although she will try to walk when she can so she can so her legs can keep working for a bit longer. Eventually, Sophie won't be able to walk at all. The wheelchair she has at present is proving a mammoth task for her Mum to push, as the chair is bigger than Donna! If you know Donna you will know what I mean LOL! Sophie may not always have the strength needed in her arms to wheel herself, as some of the effects are muscle weakness in arms and legs, loss of coordination, diabetes... the list goes on.  Poor Sophie has curvature of the spine and a heart condition to deal with also. The council do not supply electric chairs unless there are extreme circumstances. I'd say this is extreme enough, but the councils have no money . Donna & Steve had to fight RHP and the council for 4 years to get Sophie a ground-floor room and have a wet room installed. It changed Sophie's life, as she can now go to the toliet without fear of falling down the stairs and she can now shower on her own - the little things in life we take for granted can mean a great deal to others. I've set up this go fund me page to raise awareness of Ataxtia and to raise money to buy Sophie a new Elctric wheel chair. I will be doing all kinds of fundraising events over the next 12 months to help reach this target. Starting Saturday 4th November half marathon, I'm not prepared at all, only just started training and I'm pretty much on my arse after a mile. I've known the family for many, many years. They have not asked me to do this; as a proud hard-working family, they don't want handouts, this is just something I want to do for them & for Sophie. It's tough enough in this day and age, and a little help from my friends & their friends will make Sophie's life a lot easier and I'm sure will make her a whole lot happier. I have a daughter of the same age in good health, as do many of you who I'll be asking for sponsorship and donations. Please spare what you can for Sophie. Thankyou Terry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataxia Ataxia Friedreich's ataxia - Wikipedia Signs and symptoms Edit Symptoms typically begin sometime between the ages of 5 to 15 years, but in Late Onset FA may occur in the 20s or 30s. Symptoms include any combination, but not necessarily all, of the following: • Muscle weakness in the arms and legs • Loss of coordination • Vision impairment • Hearing impairment • Slurred speech • Curvature of the spine (scoliosis) • High plantar arches (pes cavus deformity of the foot) • Diabetes (about 20% of people with Friedreich's ataxia develop carbohydrate intolerance and 10% develop diabetes mellitus)[2] • Heart disorders (e.g., atrial fibrillation, and resultant tachycardia (fast heart rate) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) It presents before 22 years of age with progressive staggering or stumbling gait and frequent falling. Lower extremities are more severely involved. The symptoms are slowly progressing. Long-term observation shows that many patients reach a plateau in symptoms in the patient's early adulthood. On average, after 10–15 years with the disease, patients are usually wheelchair bound and require assistance with all activities of daily living.[3]