Just4Children want to help provide Topsy and Harry the equipment and therapy that they need to help them both gain independence, improve their daily pain and to maintain and hopefully improve their mobility.
Topsy and Harry are aged 7 and 12 respectively from Wiltshire.
Topsy was a premature baby, needing 8 minutes of resuscitation and was a low birth weight. She has had health issues and problems with her hips since she was born. At 14 months old she stopped walking and would scream every time she tried.
After months in and out of hospital she was monitored with us not knowing what was going on. She has been diagnosed as having Hypermobility spectrum disorder, developmental delays, dyslexic and at the moment she is going through many assessments to see if her traumatic birth has caused any lasting affects, along with genetic testing and adhd/asd assessments too see if there is anything else that is causing her intoeing walking pattern, development delays, learning difficulties and joint pain. She has been an ambulatory wheelchair user from 4 years of age before that she had a buggy. At the moment she is prescribed equipment that is too heavy for her to manoeuvre herself and she is unable to keep up with her peers.
Harry was always a hyperactive little boy who loves sports. He is diagnosed as autistic, dyspraxic and muscular skeletal chronic pain. He is awaiting a referral to GOSH to find out why his joints swell, having chronic pain with multiple joints affected. Since he was 8 years old his mobility has decreased every year and is now using a wheelchair majority of the day only able to walk short distances and some days he finds it hard to walk at all.
We are wanting to help both our children with the correct equipment so they can keep up with their peers and to just have fun and be children. With any equipment, therapy and medical care to help maintain and hopefully improve their mobility and daily pain and to start to gain independence.
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