Mila was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in November 2019 at just 4 years old.  Her diagnosis not only shocked us our families, teaching staff and local community partly down to how well Mila presented.  It is only with the benefit of hindsight we can look back and pin point specific symptoms  she displayed , many of which are common place in natural childhood development.

Mila gathered the attention of many people across the world after her story went viral when she had to isolate separately from her dad during lockdown, after her picture was put on social media soon to be named as “Shielding Mila” after this was chosen by the Duchess of Cambridge to be included in her “Hold Still “ book, which showcased the individual stories of people during this unprecedented time in 2020.

Mila’s treatment is a long and gruelling process that takes 2 and a half years to complete. As with all chemotherapy treatment plans, she has to endure all the nasty side effects.  One of which is toe walking shortened achilles leg pain and cramps causing huge impact on mobility.  Mila had physiotherapy as part of her treatment and was given exercises and massage  to do, something she did not enjoy.

Cue the lightbulb mum moment ….. One day I was watching Mila on her scooter and noticed it was making her place her feet flat on her scooter board without upset and proper heel to toe motion making the scooter go ! 

Mila loved being able to “scoot “ in the school gates not only was this a way of stretching her leg muscles but also allowed her to feel “normal” being able to socialise with her friends not feeling any different! 

Scoot in September idea was born.

We plan to raise awareness over the month of September (which is childhood cancer awareness month) showcasing signs and symptoms for parents/caregivers to look out for in their child as early diagnosis is essential. 

We hope to see pictures shared online and social media platforms of everyone on their scooters or their children scooting using #scootinseptember. Our just giving link can also be shared to raise as much money as we can into supporting vital research in this field saving lives and making treatments a little kinder on the children who sadly end up having to take on this fight. ! 

So share the link share the #scootinseptember to your images and importantly scoot safely! 

Hope to see you all “Scoot in September “ with us ❤️