A disabled children’s charity has stepped in to help a three-year-old boy from Fife enjoy his first decent nights sleep.
Ritchie Horrocks, from Fife, has a rare form of achondroplasia, or short-limbed dwarfism, and is unable to use his limbs freely.
He cannot walk and needs help with daily activities and is still sleeping in a cot, but his parents have approached Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children to fund a specialist bed to give him a safe, restful night’s sleep.
Ritchie’s mum Moira, who is his full-time carer, said: “My husband and I have been lifting Ritchie for the last three and a half years and the worst times are when we need to get him into bed. He’s currently in a cot, but if we were able to get a specialist bed it would mean so much to him as it could be lowered to 20cm off the floor, which would help him to eventually get out of bed on his own. It could also be raised which would make it easier to dress and handle him. It would also do wonders for his self esteem if Ritchie had his own bed and his own space.”
Ritchie’s family turned to Newlife after Fife Council said they were unable to fund it.
The specialist bed costs £2,425 and the Horrocks family are desperate to give Ritchie just what he needs.
Newlife currently needs to fund £5,940-worth of equipment for children in Fife but is experiencing huge demand on its resources with calls to the Newlife Nurse Helpline increasing by 70 per cent.
Newlife CEO Sheila Brown, OBE, said: “There is huge demand and because of this we are calling on anyone to help us raise money to fund equipment in Fifie. Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of any gift or donation will go directly to help disabled children in the area.”
Contact the Newlife Community Fundraising Team on freephone 0800 988 4640 for further details.
Any money raised surplus to requirements for Ritchie will help support other disabled and terminally ill children in Fife.
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