Being able to take a few steps around the home or along the street means children like seven-year-old Tatiana Kwaramba fall outside local statutory services criteria for wheelchair support. But, as a child, trips with your classmates are one of the best things about school and going shopping with mum on the weekend is always full of excitement.
But without specialist equipment, seven-year-old Tatiana from Rushden is not able to do these simple things that most children take for granted. That’s why Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children is appealing to local heroes in Northamptonshire to help get Tatiana a manual wheelchair for her to feel more included in home and school activities.
Tatiana has an auto-immune condition which has affected her mobility. Although she is able to walk she drags her right leg and tires easily. She is regularly left at home with a family member as she cannot walk for a long period of time and her mum usually ends up giving her a piggy back which has started to cause mum back problems.
Mum Rufaro Rachel Kwaramba: “We find it very difficult at the moment, especially on the weekends and school holidays. If we go shopping, after walking into one store Tatiana gets tired – I then have to carry her on my back and as she is getting bigger this is getting harder to do and it also takes up a lot of time. I put her in trolleys sometimes and often receive stares of disapproval as putting children in trolleys is not permitted.
“She loves shopping and gets so upset sometimes because I have to leave her behind – but whenever I do take her out, she complains that her leg is hurting and refuses to walk after a short time.”
Because her family want to give her the best possible start at school and home they turned to Newlife Foundation – the UK’s leading charity provider of essential equipment to meet the needs of children with disabilities and terminal illness – to get the £499 wheelchair which is beyond the family budget.
Rufaro added: “I have started to leave her with my friend when I have to run errands. Even school trips are hard for her because she can’t keep up with the other children and often feels left out – she can only manage to walk half way to her school, it’s such a struggle for her.”
Without a wheelchair Tatiana and her family are socially isolated and limited as to where they can go. With your help Newlife can get her the wheelchair she needs, creating opportunities for Tatiana both at home and school.
Tatiana’s is one of 13 families in Northamptonshire currently working with Newlife to get the specialist equipment they need, totalling £8,005. Newlife has provided 191 families in Northamptonshire with disability equipment – including beds, wheelchairs, seating and sensory aids – worth over £226,502.
If you would like to help Tatiana and her family, go to: https://newlifecharity.co.uk/Northamptonshire and click on the Donate Now button beside her story. The website includes information about how Newlife supports families of disabled and terminally ill children in the county and ways in which people can help.
Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of the money donated to help Tatiana will be used to fund her manual wheelchair. Any surplus funding will help provide equipment for other disabled children within the county.
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: Tatiana Kwaramba
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