Every time Imogen Green travels in her parent’s car, she is in pain. The journey to every medical appointment, every family day out, every trip to the shops is painful. The four-year-old has a condition affecting her skeleton and needs supportive leg splints and a special suit to keep her back straight – but the standard car seat she is currently using doesn’t offer any support at all. With your help, Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children can get Imogen a special car seat to allow her to travel in comfort and safety at all times.

Imogen, who lives in Swindon, is one of only three people in the UK with Myhre Syndrome – the condition affects the skeleton as a whole and also leads to other complications including heart disease, curvature of the spine and shortness of stature. Imogen also has a cleft palate which will need surgery at a later date and walks on her tip toes, but to correct this would involve surgery that greatly reduces Imogen’s mobility and would stop her doing things she loves, like ballet lessons.

Imogen’s mum, Stacey, said; “At the moment, we are still having to use a baby car seat for Imogen – she is too small for a booster seat but she has outgrown the baby seat – any journey longer than 10-15 minutes is painful for her. She gets very upset because of the pain in her back and will often get pins and needles in her legs as there is nothing to support them.

“A special car seat would mean that Imogen can travel pain free – she has a lot of medical appointments coming up and it will be so much better for her to travel in a seat that is properly supportive. It will also mean that we can go further for family days out – Imogen loves going to the Aquarium but it is just a bit too far for her to travel.”

The special car seat will also have supports for Imogen’s legs and a turntable which will make it easier for her to get into the car, allowing her to have some independence. But with a price tag of £901 and no statutory funding available, her mum turned to Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children, the UK’s largest charitable provider of essential equipment to meet the specialist needs of children with disabilities and terminal illness.

Newlife has provided 87 families in Wiltshire with disability equipment – including beds, wheelchairs, seating and sensory aids – worth over £183,000. However, the demand is still high. Imogen is just one of nine children in the county who need equipment worth a total of £3,891. That’s why Newlife has a dedicated Newlife Wiltshire Fund – www.newlifecharity.co.uk/wiltshire – which gives local people the opportunity to help local disabled children and every penny donated or fundraised in Wiltshire is guaranteed to support families in the county. The Newlife Wiltshire Fund supports equipment provision for under-19s facing any significant disability, whether acquired through birth defect, prematurity, accident or illness.

Newlife also guarantees that 100 percent of the money donated or fundraised for Imogen will go towards funding her special car seat and any surplus funds raised will go towards helping a disabled or terminally ill child within the Wiltshire area.

Further information about the Newlife Wiltshire Fund – and how to specifically donate or fundraise to help Imogen – can be found by going to www.newlifecharity.co.uk/wiltshire or emailing local@newlifecharity.co.uk. Telephone donations can be made by calling 01543 462777.

Pictured: Imogen Green

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