A helping hand for youngsters with cerebral palsy
Feb 6 2010 by Hannah Davies, The Journal
IN PART three of our campaign to support The Children’s Foundation’s Healthy, Happy, Safe appeal, HANNAH DAVIES visits a project which helps youngsters with cerebral palsy.
Heel and Toe used the grant to buy equipment including floor frames, a balance bench and sensory kits.
These are used every day to work with the 40 children who visit the centre.
Paul Martinson, 33, a personal trainer at Slaley Hall, and his wife Gill, 36, live in Shotley Bridge, County Durham. Their daughter Esmee is 15 months old.
They were told Esmee had cerebral palsy in March last year.
From in utero they knew their new baby was going to have some problems.
She was diagnosed with a rare congenital condition called Tracheo-Oesophageal Fistula (TOF), which means she had difficulty breathing from birth.
She had to go through a series of operations – the first at just six hours old.
Paul and Gill were told on a few occasions she may not make it and advised that if they wanted her baptized they should do it immediately.
Gill recalls: “She was minutes away from complete organ failure.
“We went through quite a few emotions in hospital, it was a very difficult time.”
Gradually Esmee recovered from her traumatic start and her parents were told they could take her home. But the trauma she suffered had left its mark and the couple were told she had cerebral palsy.
Gill says: “We were devastated.”
Paul adds: “From then on our world changed.”
Heel and Toe is a great support for Gill and gives great care to Esmee.
Gill says: “It is teaching us what we can do because it is a way of life bringing up a child with cerebral palsy.
“We have learned exercises we can do with her and we are learning a lot of it is about repetition.
“Since coming here there’s definitely been a huge, huge improvement.”
The support Gill gets when she visits Heel and Toe is also very important.
She explains: “Everybody’s situation is different, but here we have got some kind of common ground.
“Nobody in our family has cerebral palsy so coming here has been a really big help.”
