Little Ivy Rose has a smile that lights up a room but unless her parents raise enough money for groundbreaking treatment she will have to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. The three-year-old faces a life of isolation because her cerebral palsy means she can do very little for herself. But she is a delightfully engaging child who shows courage beyond her years. Stephen and Sky Summers, from Shotts, Lanarkshire, were devastated when their little girl was born prematurely with medical difficulties. Ivy was born just a year after the couples twins, Xander and Sandy died after being born too prematurely. Sky, 36, said: They died in my arms. One was just under an hour, the other just over an hour. When Ivy also arrived early her parents feared she would die too. Now they are determined to do everything within their power to ensure she gets the very best chance to live as normal a life as possible. Sky said: When Ivy arrived, she was whisked off to ICU. I didnt even get to touch her. We didnt think there were going to be big problems at first. She came out crying and gurgling. Initially, Ivy … Continue reading →

A Dublin teen with cerebral palsy has set a date to travel to the US for 'life-changing' surgery, writes Amy Ryan. Courtney Manning, a 19-year-old from Coolock in Dublin, lives with cerebral palsy and has seen her mobility deteriorate over the last number of years, with the likelihood that she will be wheelchair-bound in the next year. Courtney has booked her flights to the US for November 5, 2017 so she hopes to raise the remaining 50,000 over the next two months. In January, Courtney began campaigning to raise funds after being approved for selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery in St Louis Children's Hospital, Missouri. SDR involves cutting of some of the sensory nerve fibres that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord. The hospital has said that SDR is the only surgical procedure that can provide permanent reduction of spasticity in cerebral palsy and they have had great success with patients, with certain types of CP, who have received the treatment. Courtney has tried various treatments such as Botox and splints to alleviate the symptoms to no avail. In March 2016, she had a major surgery on her Achilles tendon to have them lengthened however, the teenager had … Continue reading →

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Natalia Vodianova has been the face of Calvin Klein campaigns and shes graced the cover of Vogue. Shes also the founder of the Naked Heart Foundation whose mission is to support people with disabilities. The organization has many projects, including funding dozens of all-inclusive play parks in Russia and creating support networks for families of children with disabilities. Staff and faculty from the University of New Mexicos departments of neurology, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and from Carrie Tingley Hospital are participating in a Naked Heart Foundation program aimed at bringing new ideas about working with children with special needs and their families to facilities in Russia through international exchange experiences. We want to learn modern approaches to working with children with disabilities, said Tatiana Morozova, a child psychologist from St. Petersburg who is on the Naked Heart Foundation board and an adjunct professor in the Neurology Department at the University of New Mexico. Morozova, fellow Naked Heart Foundation board member Svyatoslav Dovbnya, a St. Petersburg child neurologist, and a group of physicians and therapists from a hospital in the city … Continue reading →