Little Rosie Chapple will be three in December – and a specialist buggy to get her out and about would make her birthday complete.
Rosie, from the Fishers Green area of Stevenage, has a genetic condition affecting the nervous system – it causes tumours to grow on nerve tissue, producing skin and bone abnormalities. As a result she has limited mobility and is due to undergo surgery in January in which grafts from her hips will be used to ‘grow’ new bone tissue in her left leg.
Mum Rebecca Howells said: “Currently Rosie has a regular buggy but it doesn’t have any support for her legs and she is outgrowing it. We need a buggy that is big enough to last several years as Rosie is due to have a number of operations throughout her childhood; it also needs extra support for her hips and leg to reduce pain and help her recovery.”
She added: “While Rosie can still walk short distances she gets tired very quickly so we need something to take with us wherever we go, whether it’s to a hospital appointment, a family day out or just out to the local shops.”
With the specialist buggy costing £548, Rosie’s health visitor advised the family to contact Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children for help.
Newlife is the UK’s largest charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness and has already supported 137 children in Hertfordshire with equipment totalling £192,645.
As statutory services suffer continued budget cuts, more and more families in Hertfordshire are turning to Newlife for help. Rosie’s is one of three families in the county currently working with the charity.
To find out more about Newlife’s work in Hertfordshire, go to: www.newlifecharity.co.uk/hertfordshire. If you would like to help children like Rosie, go to this website and click on the ‘Donate Now’ button. Alternatively, contact the Newlife County Liaison Team on 01543 431 444, email local@newlifecharity.co.uk.
Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of the money donated will help provide specialist equipment for children in Hertfordshire.
For full details of Newlife Foundation’s range of practical support for disabled and terminally ill children and their families, call the Newlife Nurse Helpline – 0800 902 0095 (free from UK landlines and mobiles) – or go to: https://newlifecharity.co.uk
Pictured: Rosie Chapple
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