Car journeys had become ‘stressful and scary’ for mum Joanne Hines because her five-year-old son Harry has no awareness of danger.
Joanne, from Swadlincote, said: “We were using an ordinary car seat with a harness, but Harry could undo this and the belt holding the seat in place. He was bouncing around the car while I was driving, trying to jump on my lap. There was no warning he was going to do this – he would just suddenly be bouncing around.
“It is a 40-mile round trip to Harry’s school each day and, frankly, it was getting quite stressful and scary.”
Joanne went to a mobility centre in Derby for safety advice – where she was told Harry would need a specialist car seat. She said: “I thought this might cost about £300 – a lot more than a normal car seat – but I wasn’t prepared for the actual cost.”
The seat that meets Harry’s needs costs £752, so the family turned to Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children for help with funding.
Newlife is the UK’s largest charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness and has helped 388 under-19s in Derbyshire with items totalling £340,367.
Joanne said: “Journeys are a lot easier now we have the new safety seat for Harry. It has special seat belt covers so he can’t release the seat and the five-point harness keeps him secure and comfortable.”
Newlife supports families through a range of equipment services, all accessed via our Nurse Helpline – 0800 902 0095. Equipment Grants make permanent provision of a wide variety of items including wheelchairs and walkers for mobility and specialist car seats and beds for safety; Emergency Equipment Loans offer a rapid response, often within 72 hours of an application being made; Play Therapy Pod Loans are targeted at those with complex needs, helping to develop skills and distract from pain; Comfort Capsules are for families of terminally ill children so they can make memories together.
To find out more about how Newlife supports disabled and terminally ill children in Derbyshire, go to: www.newlifecharity.co.uk/derbyshire. If you would like to help another child in the county, go to the website and click on the Donate button.
The website includes contact details for the Newlife County Liaison Team – tel no 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 in the county.
Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of monies donated or fundraised in Derbyshire will be used to specifically help children with disabilities and terminal illness in the county.
Pictured: Harry Anderson
Web: https://newlifecharity.co.uk
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