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LOCAL HEROES NEEDED TO HELP ROSE SLEEP IN SAFETY

Local heroes in West Sussex are needed to help provide seven-year-old Rose Forrestal with a specialist travel bed to keep her safe. The bed would enable overnight stays with extended family and precious family time together outside of the family home.

Seven-year-old Rose Forrestal from Bognor Regis has epilepsy and developmental delay; unable to walk or talk she is fed through a tube in her stomach and reflux puts her at risk of choking. At home, she sleeps in a specialist bed which meets her health needs, but without a suitable travel bed the family have had to put any thoughts of respite care or holidays on hold.

Mum Jade Weston said: “It’s become virtually impossible to take Rose out of the family home for respite because she does not have the specialist bed she needs to be safe. We usually go camping every year in the New Forest, Rose loves being outside with nature – she can make as much noise as she wants without disturbing others. She used to sleep in an infant cot but she has outgrown it now and we can’t be out in the middle of nowhere without a suitable bed for Rose.”

A specialist travel bed will cost £2,995, and as there is no local statutory services funding available the family have turned to Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children for help. Newlife is the UK’s leading charity provider of essential equipment to meet the needs of children with disabilities and terminal illness.

“As a mum I want the best for my child – the bed would enable us to take Rose to visit family members and for essential respite for her and us as a family. Rose loves coming camping with the family and I do not think it’s fair that she should be left behind. With the travel bed we will be able to continue going on our camping trips, which Rose enjoys so much,” added Jade.

We all know how important spending time with family members can be. Without this equipment Rose and her family will be unable to create the sort of memories we all treasure.

Rose is one of four families currently working with Newlife to get the specialist equipment they need, totalling £4,220. Newlife has provided 65 families in the West Sussex with disability equipment – including beds, wheelchairs, seating and sensory aids – worth over £80,600. However, the demand is still high.

If you would like to help Rose and her family, go to: https://newlifecharity.co.uk/WestSussex 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 West Sussex and ways in which people can help.

Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of the money donated to help Rose will be used to fund her specialist travel bed. Any surplus funding will help provide equipment for other disabled children in West Sussex.

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: Rose Forrestal

 

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