Specialist safety equipment – a harness – will mean four-year-old Ryan Hill and his twin brother will be able to make the most of Christmas.
Ryan, from Wigan, has global developmental delay and ADHD. He has no awareness of danger, as well as other issues, and because of this getting out and about had become a problem for the whole family.
Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children had previously given the family a specialist buggy with additional safety features so they could go out locally, but without a specialist car seat the family were unable to take the boys further afield, despite having been awarded a grant for days out. “We had not been able to use this for the past few weeks because of the car seat situation,” said Amanda.
She explained: “With his old car seat, Ryan could undo the straps and move around the vehicle. We would have to keep stopping to put him back in the seat and in the end it just wasn’t worth trying to go out. We were isolating ourselves until the issue was sorted.”
With no funding for specialist car harnesses available from local statutory services, the family turned once again to Newlife.
Now, with the £498 harness delivered in time for Christmas, Ryan and his brother Nathan have already been to visit Santa and their parents are planning more days out over the festive season.
Newlife is the UK’s leading charity provider of specialist equipment for children with disabilities and terminal illness. However, with demand for its range of services increasing dramatically, the charity is increasingly looking to ‘local heroes’ to help fund essential equipment for children in their own counties.
Newlife has provided specialist equipment for 304 children in the Greater Manchester area totalling more than £237,000. However, the charity is currently working with a further 22 local families, with combined equipment needs of £28,089. If you would like to help a disabled child in your area, go to: www.newlifecharity.co.uk/greatermanchester and click on the Donate button. The website also gives more information about children in the area who have already been helped and ways you can fundraise. Alternatively, you could contact the Newlife County Liaison Team on 01543 431 444, email local@newlifecharity.co.uk.
Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of monies donated in Greater Manchester will be used to provide specialist equipment for children in the metropolitan borough.
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: Ryan Hill
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