Specialist seating is the difference between being in pain and relaxing in peace for four-year-old Holly Clarke from Thornhill in Dumfries and Galloway.
Holly, one of twins, has Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy (due to Hypoxia Ischemic Encephalopathy – lack of oxygen to the brain), Epilepsy and a dislocated left hip. Sitting in a wheelchair all day becomes uncomfortable for Holly, so she looks forward to getting home and relaxing in her specialist PPod seat, where she is secure and free from risk of falling. However, since being fitted with a feeding tube in her stomach last year, she has grown dramatically.
Mum Stephanie Robertson said: “Holly has grown taller and put on weight and is now the same size as her twin sister. It’s great for her health and development, but now she has outgrown her special comfy chair – and it’s the only place Holly can relax and find peace.”
So the family has turned to Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children for help in providing a new, larger PPod, at a cost of £1,030. Newlife – the leading charity funder of specialist disability equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness in the UK – provided Holly’s existing PPod.
As Newlife faces an increasing number of applications for support from across the UK, the charity is looking to ‘local heroes’ who can help families in their area.
To find out more about Newlife’s work in Dumfries and Galloway, go to: www.newlifecharity.co.uk/dumfriesandgalloway. If you would like to help Holly, go to this website and click on the ‘Donate Now’ button.
Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of the money donated to help Holly will be used to fund her PPod. Any surplus funding will help provide equipment for other disabled children in Dumfries and Galloway – Holly is one of two children in the county currently needing specialist seating. The ‘Newlife guarantee’ is possible because the charity operates a successful recycling and retail business, the profits of which underwrite core costs, including administration.
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: Holly Clarke
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newlifecharity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newlifefoundation
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/NewlifeFoundation
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/NewlifeFoundation
