Ufi Will Walk - Challenge #3: Paddle the Channel
Thanks for visiting Ufi will walk!
Who is Ufi I hear you ask? And why can’t she walk? And what can I do to help this little girl? Well…allow me to elaborate.
Ophelia (Ufi to her friends..rhymes with 'Hoof-y' btw) is our 3 yr old daughter and she can’t walk. Ufi suffered a life changing brain injury at birth (birth was 3 months early, IN A TOILET. I mean, come on…a break would be good here) which has resulted in Cerebral Palsy.
Cerebral Palsy (or CP to those in the know) affects people in different ways. For Ufi, this means her legs are too stiff for her to use as her beautiful brain is not really talking to her lovely legs in the way it should.
Imagine having cramp in your thighs, calves and feet so strong your toes point to the floor, and it takes an adult’s full strength to bend your foot to 45 degrees. It’s like that, 24-7 for her and it takes an army of professionals to help manage this (paediatric neurologists, physiotherapists, hydrotherapists, conductive education therapists, endocrinologists...the list is long!)
‘But wait!’ I hear you say. ‘Surely there must be groundbreaking surgery that can allow her brain to talk to her legs (hello legs, how are you?) normally and she can learn how to use her legs again so she’s not in constant pain?’
You’re right! That procedure exists. It’s called SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) and it’s a totally minor procedure where her spinal column is opened up, nerves are severed (note to self, ensure surgeon closes up spinal column after surgery) and she is retrained to walk, with 3 yrs of post op therapy (around 5 hours a day, every day, for 3 YEARS). Like I said, minor.
Life changing-ly amazing, right? Unfortunately, as a great singer once said: ‘Freedom isn’t free. It costs folks like you and me.’
That cost is going to be up to £50K.
(update: we would have had to raise £100K, but by sheer chance the NHS is now helping to fund the procedure for very select cases - Ufi's is one of them and we're eternally grateful for this!)
You just need to click on the big yellow 'DONATE NOW' button on the top of this page to show your support.
Ask yourself: Is there anything you WOULDN'T do to give your child the chance of being able to walk?
Well, we’re going to do a lot. In fact, we’re going to set 5 intense challenges to push us (us being Ufi’s parents and those who are brave enough to join Team Ufi) between now and 2020 to raise funds to reach our £50k target. We're going to break our target down into individual challenges, the first 3 of which are:
Challenge #1 (Completed)
Team Ufi to paddle board 100KM from the source of the River Trent to the centre of Nottingham over 2 days in early Aug 2018. Huge respect to Marc Munier and Michael Craig for joining Team Ufi on this challenge.
Challenge #2: (coming really, REALLY soon - Brighton Marathon, 14th April 2019)
Team Ufi to run Brighton Marathon in April 2019. Double Ouch.
The wonderful Natalie Orringe and Marie Knight have agreed to join me and put themselves through severe pain and suffering for our little girl and run 26.2 miles on the 14th April: these girls are warriors and, are NOT to be messed with.
Challenge #3: (Paddle board the English Channel. Oh, Dear God)
Team Ufi to paddle board across the English Channel in 2019. (Team Ufi don't know this yet, but anticipating a triple Ouch situation here)
SO YOU CAN HELP...YOU CAN HELP UFI WALK.
You just need to click on the big yellow 'DONATE NOW' button on the top right of this page to do so.
You can give an inspirational little girl the chance of walking and, take extra warmth and fuzziness in knowing that we're going to try and raise above and beyond what is needed for this operation and donate these extra funds to Whoopsadaisy and the Early Birth Association , 2 amazing charities that have transformed our lives, and Ufi’s. We want to help others who may go through a similar journey to ours
Think about it: ‘If you don’t throw in your buck ‘o five…who will?
Help us reach our goal and help Ufi walk. Mahalo.
