A girl from Northampton who has cerebral palsy can now ride a special therapeutic tricycle after it was funded by donations to her charity.
Grace Windram, aged six, needs the trike because it boosts elasticity in her legs, giving her a better chance at eventually being able to walk.
The family appealed for donations to Grace’s Fund in November, knowing there was a small window of opportunity in which the trike would benefit her, because she is growing, and recently received the rest of the £1,500 needed. They even had an anonymous family contact them through the Chron with the offer of a special trike that had once belonged to their child, although it turned out not to be the type Grace needed.
Grace’s mum, Helen, said: “We managed to raise the money for a new trike and the company managed to process the order really quickly which was wonderful.
“We are as always astonished by the way in which people in this town pull together to help each other and by the generosity shown by so many people. We are humbled and grateful.”
Grace, who lives in Kingsthorpe, has spastic diplegia cerebral palsy.
Caused by damage to her brain in late pregnancy or birth, it means her movements are severely affected, particularly her lower body.
She had an operation in America in January last year to enable her to walk with a frame and is undergoing physiotherapy to maintain the benefits. But she will also need physiotherapy until she is 18 in order to maintain those benefits.
As well as keeping her treatment fun, her new tricycle assists pedalling, building up the muscles that make Grace’s legs move independently of each other, which most people’s bodies do naturally when walking.
Grace Windram’s family have arranged for eye specialist, Dr William Padula, from San Antonio, Texas, to come and treat an eye problem, which is affecting her balance, at the Maple Tree Clinic, in Wootton, as an alternative to surgery.
He has also agreed to assess others while in Northampton and, although one session is now booked up, a second session could be put on, at a cost of £800 per patient, if five people apply.
For more information, call 07812 409479.
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