Jade's Dream to Walk

Hi, I’m Jade, and I’m 6 and a half years old. I was born at 28 weeks, and because of this I have Cerebral Palsy. The type of Cerebral Palsy I have is called Spastic Diplegia, which for me means the muscles in my legs are very tight and makes walking (and other things) hard and sometimes painful.

At the moment I need a walking frame to help me get around, but as I grow my legs are starting to tighten up even more and its beginning to affect the way my bones grow, which makes walking even more difficult. In a few years I will probably be confined to my wheelchair

There is a surgery called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR), which is unavailable in NZ, but performed at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in America. I’ve been accepted for the surgery and I’m on the waiting list for a date in March 2017!

If I am able to have SDR, it will take away all of the tightness in my legs, and stop any further deformities to them. It means I will be able to walk without my walking frame, and with no more pain. Most importantly, this surgery is the best opportunity I have to live an independent life.

Post-surgery I’m going to need up to 2 years of very intensive physiotherapy to teach me to walk again.

This is going to be a long journey for our family, but we are committed to it. I want to be able to dance and walk and ride bikes just like you do! Please help me raise the $125,000 it is going to cost for this to happen.

Every dollar that you donate gets me one step closer to my dream of walking.