Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children
COVID-19 Response Appeal
During the COVID-19 pandemic, disabled children and their families need our support more than ever, they are most at risk from the effects of COVID-19
Story
Newlife helps disabled and terminally ill children who are in crisis every single day, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, these children and their families need our support more than ever.
Disabled children are most at risk from the effects of COVID-19, and with your support, we can act. Due to COVID-19 Newlife Stores have temporarily closed to protect both staff and the public, and with many of our fundraising activities planned for the year cancelled, now more than ever we need your help to provide much-needed support.
All of our free services are still running and delivering including our Emergency Equipment loan service which provides equipment to keep children safe, free then from pain and allow them to leave hospital and go home. Our dedicated team of nurses are manning our helpline to give families the important confidential support service they need.
Rosie's Story
Newlife has been able to help Rosie Harris from Essex. Newlife provided the emergency loan of a specialist adjustable cot for four-month-old Rosie to help her breathe and to be in a safe position while she sleeps which meant she could also leave hospital to go home with her family after months and four different hospital stays since her birth.
Rosie is just one of three people in the world diagnosed with a condition called Kilquist syndrome which has caused her intestinal and breathing difficulties so severe she has already endured two surgeries, was on a ventilator for five days at just three weeks old and has even needed CPR from her parents.
Now more stable, Rosie still needs to have a nebuliser every two hours as well as suctioning as she can't remove her own secretions, and is fed continuously through a tube, but without a specialist cot at home to keep her at the right angle to help her breathe while she sleeps she couldn't leave hospital.
Mum Charlotte said: "Rosie was in isolation in Basildon hospital due to her condition putting her at such high risk if she caught COVID-19, which was quite a worry. She's actually safer at home, but they wouldn't release us unless we had a specialist cot.
"Now Rosie and I are self-isolating with her dad Conor and Rosie is getting to know her three-year-old sister Gracie, for the first time properly as she wasn't able to visit her in isolation. We are finally enjoying time together as a family and the emergency loan cot from Newlife is doing exactly what it should helping Rosie's breathing and keeping her in a safe position."
But we can't do it without your increased support. Donations you make will go directly towards providing much needed specialist equipment grants, emergency equipment loans and our nurse services at this critical time.
We will continue to help vulnerable children and their families during these uncertain times.