An amazing community response means just over £900 is now needed to fund a specialist wheelchair for a Bedford nine-year-old with Cerebral Palsy trapped at home.
Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children is urgently calling for one last push to raise the necessary funds so Bartloiej Wilczynski, known as Bartek, can have the specialist lightweight wheelchair he desperately needs to go outside.
Bartek’s muscles are so painfully tight he doesn’t have the strength to push himself around in his heavy NHS wheelchair.
He relies on his mum Magdalena, but agonizing arthritis in her spine and hips makes pushing the wheelchair too much to bear. Now they only leave the house when it’s absolutely necessary.
Although Bartek is desperate to go outside, without help he can only crawl, so he’s forced to miss out on playing with twin brother Kacper and older brother, Jakub, 12, as well as games at school.
Bartek said: “I feel very lonely because I can’t walk. I can’t join in with my friends and I really want to be out there. I dream of playing with my brothers at the skate park, but I can’t join in.
“I just want a new wheelchair so I could play – I could do anything in this wheelchair. It would mean a lot to me.”
Mum Magdalena added: “Bartek is missing out on so much. He’s a happy boy who loves to socialise, but now he feels isolated and different, which he hates. He needs the freedom and independence all children should have. Instead he’s stuck inside, watching the world go on.”
Newlife’s Senior Manager for Care Services, Carrick Brown, said: “We are calling on the people in Bedford to urgently help Bartek. Please if you can, make a donation today or fundraise to help him, as soon as possible.”
STOP PRESS: Thanks to a great community effort and lots of media support we have now raised enough money for Bartek’s specialist wheelchair. However, you can still donate to help the other 28 children on our waiting list in the East of England who need £64,079 of specialist equipment. If you are able to help please call 01543 431 444, visit the website at https://newlifecharity.co.uk or email local@newlifecharity.co.uk.
