Smiles For Sunnie

Sunnie was born 5 weeks early. She had a rough entry to the world and suffered a brain injury as a result. She was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 13 months of age. She just learned how to crawl a year ago. She usually uses a walker, but her legs are getting too tight for her to even stand. She suffers from fatigue, leg cramps, and pain. Her ability to socialize is affected because she can't move around and keep up to other kids. Sunnie's demeanour is just as her name describes. Despite all of the therapies, procedures, and Botox treatments she is a very happy girl. Sunnie has been accepted to have a surgery called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) in St. Louis, Missouri. There is a similar procedure done in Canada which is much more invasive, the recovery time is much longer, and her outcome is not expected to be great---bound to a wheelchair with some walking in her walker. The surgeon who would be performing this, has done only 5. Dr. Park in St. Louis has done over 3,000 SDR's and he expects that Sunnie will not require a wheelchair and will walk with arm canes-----or independently!!!! Without this surgery, Sunnie's hip joints will straightened from the tension in her tendons and muscles and will eventually pull her hips out of socket. Without the surgery in St. Louis, Sunnie will require multiple orthopaedic surgeries. Sunnie's hips are already straightening because she is unable to walk very much in her walker. The need for Sunnie to have this surgery is urgent. She is booked to have her surgery in May as long as we can fundraise the money for her to have it. We need to raise $150,000 to cover the cost of the surgery, equipment such as leg braces, our hotel stay (we will be in St. Louis for a month for intensive Physio after the procedure), and physiotherapy. Any remaining money that may be leftover from fundraising will go towards extra Physio and personal training when we get home. She will require Physio related activities for much of her days following her surgery. Her progress won't be immediate as her muscles will have to learn how to work properly. Sunnie's anxiety is becoming a problem because of all of the procedures. After having SDR, she will have far less procedures.
We are humbled by the amount of support we have received since Sunnie was born almost 5 years ago. She has got a lot of fight and spirit in her, and we, along with her doctors and therapists, believe she will excel after having this surgery. We know that times are tough for everyone and we thank everyone from the bottoms of our hearts for any donation made. It's a lot of money, but Sunnie deserves a chance at a life without pain, and one where she can play with her friends and grow to be independent in life. We are happy to answer any questions and I will share the link to her website so you can follow her progress along the way. Thank you for your generosity! God Bless!