Latest Newlife News

HAPPY MAYA NOW TRAVELS SAFELY

Morecambe girl Maya Polak has got the specialist car seat she needed and is now able to get out and about in the community and attend hospital appointments in safety.

Her previous car seat was unsafe for her and fellow passengers were also in danger as she used to climb out whilst the vehicle was in motion. Thanks to Newlife, the UK’s largest charity funder of specialist equipment who have provided the correct seat for her needs, Maya now sits in the car in a good position for her health and her family no longer worry about being at risk in the car.

Maya has a rare genetic disorder and learning difficulties impacting on her fine motor skills. The five-year-old does not speak or walk and has limited mobility requiring a wheelchair outdoors. She was desperately in need of a new specialist car seat as the one they have has become a danger to Maya and her family.

Newlife raised funds and provided a specialist car seat with a five point harness seat that had been recommended with a swivel base that makes it easier to get Maya in and out of the car.

“I am so happy,” said her mum Malgorzata. “Maya is now comfortable and content in her new seat – the old seat did not hold Maya and it was very unsafe.

“I had to keep looking back at her whilst driving and that was not good.

“As well as that, she was not sitting in the correct position which is very important for her back and used to slide down – the safety belt did not hold her in. The new seat is designed so she can be comfortable and is good for her health.

“I would like to say a big thank you to Newlife.”

The equipment cost £2,983 and Maya’s parents turned to Newlife for help when they were unable to get funding for the desperately needed car seat.

Right now there are 24 children like Maya in Lancashire who urgently need equipment. Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children, the UK’s largest charity funder of specialist equipment, needs £23,537 to help these children.

Newlife has helped 363 children in Lancashire through equipment grants and loans totalling £455,865, so the charity knows there is a very real need for a specific county fund. In this way it aims to help more children, more quickly.

Newlife’s Lancashire Fund supports equipment provision for under-19s facing any significant disability, whether acquired through birth defect, prematurity, accident or illness.

Maya’s family are encouraging local people to support the recently launched fund to provide specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness in Lancashire.

Vitally, the Newlife Foundation Lancashire Fund website – www.newlifecharity.co.uk/lancashire – will enable local people to find out who needs help in their area right now and highlight the support the charity gives vulnerable families. It includes contact details for the Newlife County Liaison Team – telephone 01543 431 444 or email local@newlifecharity.co.uk – and shows specific ways people can help support children with disability and terminal illness and their families.

That might involve taking part in a local sporting challenge, give you information on how to organise a fundraising event – or even ask you to donate £5 today. Volunteers are also needed to help raise awareness of what we do and how we do it.

We hope that by launching the Newlife Lancashire Fund, children with disabilities or terminal illness in the county won’t have to go without the equipment they need for everyday life.

Newlife Foundation supports families in Lancashire through a range of free services:
Nurse-staffed helpline
Equipment grants
Emergency equipment loans
Sensory and developmental toy ‘pod’ loans.

Pictured: Maya Polak

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