Just4Children are raising money for Connie to access ongoing therapy sessions, specialist equipment, medical aids, and surgeries to help increase her strength with the ultimate goal to fulfil her dream of greater mobility and independence.
Hello, my name is Connie and I am 8 years old, and I was born 9 weeks early.
When I was 6 months old my family were told that I had suffered bilateral brain damage caused by lack of oxygen either before, during or after my birth.
This has caused a condition called Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) which has led to me having Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, affecting all four of my limbs.
Having Quad CP means that all of my limbs are affected. The muscles in my arms and legs can get very tight and often cause me some pain. I work very hard doing physiotherapy and do stretches plus other activities to help loosen my muscles while I wear splints on my legs and I have a walking frame that helps me to walk.
I am not able to do the things that most other children my age or younger can do. I can not sit independently without constant supervision and support, I am solely dependent on my parents to get me dressed, brush my teeth and put on my own shoes. I watch and want to do all the things that other children my age can do, like play in the park, jump in a puddle, ride my bike and just generally being more independent.
Previously raising money for Just4Children allowed me to have a surgery called SDR (Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy) in November 2020 which was not available to me on the NHS. The surgery involved cutting the sensory nerve fibres which were sending incorrect signals to my brain. It also enabled me to have physiotherapy, hydrotherapy and strength and conditioning every week for the first year after surgery and let me continue to receive regular therapy over the last few years.
In January 2023, I had to have further surgery (NHS funded), on my hips called Guided Growth. This places screws in the tops of my femur (thigh bone) to pull and guide the bones back into the hip sockets. This is to prevent my hips dislocating and popping out.
Mummy, Daddy and I, now thought it was time to set up a new page to continue to raise funds for Just4Children , which allows access to all the ongoing therapies, specialist equipment and medical aids that I need to enable me the greatest chance of independence in the future.
Unfortunately, the only way to make me stronger is by having regular, intensive therapy with specialist equipment, most of which can not be accessed in this county or via the NHS, they simple do not provide the level of therapy I require to keep me mobile and to prevent my mobility from deteriorating.
All the therapies I do attend are helping me to increase my strength with the ultimate goal of greater mobility, independence and general well-being.
Therapy and equipment are expensive, but I deserve the chance to access the small things and opportunities that are sometimes taken for granted, to sit unaided, to stand and to walk.
My family want to give me the best possible chance of independence they can, but this is a cost they just can not meet by themselves and so we ask you from the bottom of our hearts to please help us raise as much money as we can to help me.
Please help my wish come true x
To follow Connie’s progress and journey please visit her Facebook and Instagram pages
