Appeal to help Emmie keep safe

One-year-old Emmie Fafera–McCullagh from Huntington in York has a rare form of epilepsy which results in 10-15 seizures a week.

Emmie, who turns two next month, is unable to sit comfortably or safely because she doesn’t have a special chair that caters to her health needs.

Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children, is appealing to people in North Yorkshire to help get Emmie the special seat she needs, called a P-Pod, to give her a safe place of her own to sit comfortably.

Emmie has a functional chair and a standing frame which she uses for physiotherapy. The only places she can currently be comfortable are on the floor or in her cot.

The P-Pod however, which is a moulded seat on a beanbag style base provides comfort and appropriate support to help prevent further health issues.

“Because Emmie doesn’t have her own seat she has to lay on the floor most of the time,” says her mum Jessica McCullagh.

“She can sit on the sofa but an adult has to be on either side to make sure she is kept safe, however this still doesn’t support her posture.”

The P-Pod will not only offer Emmie a comfortable place to relax but it will also provide a safe environment for her to recover after she has had a seizure.

But with a price tag of £990 and no statutory funding available, her mum turned to Newlife, the UK’s largest charitable provider of essential equipment to meet the specialist needs of children with disabilities and terminal illness.

“The P-Pod will enable Emmie to interact with the family more while supporting her posture,” says Jessica.

“She will be able to spend time with us in different rooms safely which also means less manual handling. It would be lovely for Emmie to have her very own seat to sit in comfortably and safely.”

Anyone would like to support Emmie in getting her equipment, should go to: www.newlifecharity.co.uk/NorthYorkshire and click on the Donate button next to her story.

Any funds raised above what is needed for Emmie will help pay for equipment for one of the other nine children in who need help in North Yorkshire, where Newlife has already supported 293 children with equipment totalling £250,623.

Newlife is the UK’s leading children’s disability charity, specialising in support to aid children affected by all disabilities and terminal illness.

“Without Newlife, thousands of children would suffer pain, isolation, worsening conditions and poor quality of life,” says a Newlife spokesman.

Newlife Charity supports families nationally, through a range of free services including:

Nurse-staffed helpline

Equipment grants

Emergency equipment loans

Sensory and developmental toy ‘pod’ loans.

Comfort Capsules

In addition to funding these services, the charity also offers a support service delivered by specially trained nurses and campaigns for a fairer deal for children.

Newlife funds pioneering Medical Research to tackle the biggest threat to child health today; Birth defects. The Newlife Birth Defects Centre based at the Institute of Child Health is Europe’s first dedicated Birth Defects Research Centre.

To meet current demand, the charity needs more than £8,000 a day to provide essential equipment such as wheelchairs, beds, walking frames, seating, safety equipment and communication aids to children nationwide.

Newlife the is calling all supporters in Yorkshire to vote for Newlife to win the chance to be chosen as Gold Sponsors of the Buy Yorkshire Conference.Each year the networking group the Yorkshire Mafia selects two charities to win the chance to sponsor the Buy Yorkshire Conference, the Yorkshire region’s largest business to business conference and exhibition outside of London. The sponsorship package for the winning charity has a £20,000 commercial value. This is a great opportunity for Newlife to increase awareness of the fantastic work it does to help provide essential equipment to children with disabilities or terminal illness across Yorkshire.You can vote for Newlife to win the chance to sponsor the conference by visiting: https://theyorkshiremafia.wufoo.com/forms/z1vgpnr704jycv7/

The competition ends on Monday 6 March.