Story
Evie is a 9 year old girl from Melrose a small town in the Scottish Borders. She is a happy, sporty, sociable girl who adores animals, loves horse riding and playing with her babies.
When Evie started School, she began to have problems with her coordination and movement. At first it was thought that this was related to her eyesight and she had various test over the following two years. In July 2021, Evie began to have seizures and by the end of September was having frequent seizures. In October an EEG (electroencephalogram) confirmed epilepsy. The family felt relieved as they had an answer to what was wrong with Evie and medication stopped her seizures. Unfortunately, in November, genetics testing confirmed that Evie had the extremely rare CLN5 variation of Battens Disease. Battens disease is a neurodegenerative condition with no current treatment. It will progressively cause Evie to suffer from blindness, epileptic seizures and mobility issues that will result in Evie needing a wheelchair and will significantly shorten her life. To say Evie's family is devastated would be an understatement. They are now focused on making sure Evie's remaining years are happy, comfortable and provide her with rich experiences while she is able to enjoy them.
This fundraising page has been set up by Just4Children to show that the wider community stand with the Mitchell family to support them by raising money to provide Evie with a trip of a life time while she still has her sight, as well as help provide Evie with any equipment she may need in the future. One of Evie's dream trips would be to visit her Uncle Ross, Auntie Vicky and cousins Hamish and Skye in New Zealand. Spending time making magical memories together. Sadly, due to covid Evie has yet to meet her cousin Skye and has only met Hamish once. She is able to see them via FaceTime but this is becoming more difficult as Evie's sight deteriorates.
Thank you.