Just4Children
Emily's American Operation
Just4Children need to raise £45,000 for Emily to have life enhancing SDR surgery with Dr T S Park in St Louis Childrens Hospital, USA.
Story
This is Emily's story. She was born in the Wirral premature at 32 weeks in February 2014. She spent six weeks on the special care baby unit. During that time an MRI brain scan revealed that Emily had Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) - damage to the white matter of her brain that controls muscle tone and movement of the arm and legs. This resulted in Emily being diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.
Cerebral Palsy is a permanent brain injury. Emily's cerebral palsy causes severe muscle tightness and pain in her legs.
By age 5 Emily is not able to stand or walk independently.
Emily is a happy, fun and bright child whose dream it is to ride a pink scooter and dance on her own like her big sister Erin.
Our goal is to raise £45,000 for Emily to have SDR by Dr T S Park, a world leading paediatric neurosurgeon at St Louis Childrens Hospital, U.S.A . We are aware that SDR surgery is free in the UK on certain criteria. Emily has now been assessed as eligible to have SDR on the NHS which currently has a waiting list. However, after careful consideration we have decided it is in Emily's best interests for her to have the surgery undertaken by Dr Park. He has over 30 years experience of performing SDR to treat cerebral palsy spasticity and operated on over 4,000 children. Emily has been accepted by Dr Park who strongly recommends she have the procedure.
Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) involves cutting some of the sensory nerve fibres that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord.
SDR is the only procedure that can provide permanent reduction of spasticity (muscle tightness) in cerebral palsy, free her from pain and stop bones from deforming as she gets older.
Emily inspires us every day with her courage and determination in learning to walk. She endures a daily stretching programme and has had weekly physiotherapy since she was 6 weeks old and never once complained about doing it.
We hope she can also inspire you. Thank you for your support and sharing this amazing opportunity with us.