Help Phoebe stand up to her disability
Amanda Matthews is trying to raise £12,000 to buy a specialised wheelchair to allow her daughter, Phoebe, to have a better quality of life. Please read her story and donate to the campaign.
“Phoebe is our very soon to be 16 year old daughter (her birthday is the 16th September) who has cerebral Palsy spastic quadraplegic which affects all her limbs, she is unable to stand, walk, use her arms to feed herself or write or sit unaided. She does have a wicked sense of humour and a very gentle and loving heart that loves life and loves socialising. She started out in life with a massive fight on her hands as she was born 16 weeks early weighing only 1lb 10oz and we were told on two occasions that she wasn’t going to make it but Phoebe being Phoebe was and still is a fighter.
We had the opportunity to try this fab powerchair from a company called “easyrise” that reclines, sits and stands up. Phoebe loved it!! it was so great to see the smile on her face she just lit up when she was able to stand in the chair!! We were at Monkeyworld in Dorset a few years ago and we had to stand back from the glass enclosures so that Phoebe could see the monkeys because she was in her wheelchair, and she wasn’t tall enough to see through the glass close up. The amount of people that stood right in front of her with their noses up against the glass was infuriating as well as heartbreaking when Phoebe would say “oww I can’t see!”. With a chair like this it would mean she could stand up the same as everyone else and see what she wanted to see and when she wanted to see it. When you are at a wheelchair level there is so much that you can’t see as well as being ignored, but this chair gives social inclusion and a chance for Phoebe to be seen and noticed.
It also has a practical use as standing is a very important part of Phoebes physio programme she does have a standing frame at home which we hoist her in and out of but she only goes in it once a day this helps prevent hip displacements and helps keep muscles and bones strong and prevents operations
which we want to avoid as much as possible. This chair would allow more frequent standing as often and as long as Phoebe wanted. The chair also has the capability of lifting just Phoebe’s legs up to straighten them again another great physio move for stretching her legs which we currently have to do with leg gaitors. This chair also lays flat which would be of great help when we are out and we need to use the disabled toilet for cares.
This is a great chair however it costs more than we can afford. We can’t get help through the NHS to fund this chair as it is too expensive. Which is why we have decided to try this route of funding to see if we can get some or all of the fees to pay for it and allow Phoebe to “stand up to her disabililty”.”