Isaiah's dream to walk

This is Isaiah Young, of Auckland, NZ.

By the age of 1 year, after a seemingly good recovery from the effects of an 8-weeks premature birth, Isaiah was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia, a type of Cerebral Palsy commonly resulting from lack of oxygen to the brain at birth.

Now, aged 9, Isaiah is your everyday fun loving kid, who excels at school, loves reading, computer games and action figures. He is very much into outdoor activities such as soccer and horse riding for the disabled, and is a great fan of rugby, wrestling and boxing.

But, unlike the average 9 year old, Zaiah needs the daily mobility support of a wheelchair, walking frame, standing desk frame and knee and ankle splints, as well as regular physiotherapy sessions and botox injections.

Although he works hard on his exercises to improve strength and ability, there is still a long way to go for him to be like the other boys in his class at school.

His dream is to stand and walk independently.

The good news is that there is an operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery which can remove his spasticity and prevent further deformities and a life of chronic pain and future orthopedic surgeries.

The bad news is that this treatment is only available in the Center for Cerebral Palsy at Saint Louis Children’s Hospital at a cost of $120,000 NZD. Despite the best efforts of all his family, it will take years before this amount can be saved.

Isaiah doesn’t have years. The operation is most effective between the ages of 3 and 7, after which, although his quality of life can be improved somewhat, the chances of him reaching full mobility are reduced.

For this reason we are appealing to your generosity for any donations, large or small, that can help this deserving little boy achieve his dream, before time runs out.