Ellie's New Wheels

Meet Ellie, our beautiful 3.5 year old little girl who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Ellie also suffers from hearing loss, epilepsy, hydrocephalus and dyskinesia amongst other things but this doesn't stop her beautiful smile and infectious sweet laugh we get to hear every single day.

Ellie has had more surgeries, procedures and hospital admissions than we'd ever imagine a child or adult having to go through and to say the last 3.5 years have been tough is an understatement. Some examples of the events/surgeries/procedures have included a perforated bowel, extreme peritonitis, colostomy, shunt placement, overshunting requiring another shunt surgery, pleural drain (multiple), collapsed lung, external shunt, reversal of colostomy & shunt reposition, large scale dental surgery, cochlear surgery...! The trauma of these admissions will never leave us and there were many times we didn't think Ellie would make it as her health had been so fragile. 

Fast forward to today, Ellie is stronger than ever and the time has suddenly come that she needs a wheelchair vehicle as this beautiful girl of ours is growing so quickly. It will soon become unsafe for Ellie to travel in our vehicle for fear of her fracturing a bone or injuring herself. Ellie's constant movements from her dyskinesia are so strong and uncontrolled, she now needs a large wheelchair vehicle for her to be safe and comfortable in.  

As her primary carer, I have had to give up work to care for Ellie as she needs 1 on 1 care 24 hours a day for all of her needs including feeding, toileting, dressing, positioning along with assistance for all types of therapy we do such as physio, OT, speech and many more.  Our family has been living off one income for over 4 years but we are now at the point of needing to seek help to fundraise for a wheelchair vehicle for our little girl.

Having a wheelchair vehicle will mean so much to Ellie and for our entire family as Ellie also has a twin sister and an older brother. We will be able to venture out further and for longer and do more as a family knowing Ellie is safe and comfortable in the correct equipment. Having a wheelchair vehicle will also save the back breaking task of currently lugging Ellie's heavy and bulky modified stroller in and out of the car multiple times a day...woohoo! I never thought I'd be so excited for a wheelchair van (a year ago I probably would've cried at the mention of it!) but the time has come in Ellie's life that we so badly need one.

We understand it is an expensive time of year for all, so any donation no matter how big or small, would be so greatly appreciated as every little bit counts. It really is such a hard thing to have to swallow our pride and ask for help but we are so lucky to have such a wonderful group of  family and friends who have such an active interest in Ellie and her progress. If you're not in a position to donate, we completely understand and instead encourage you to share this page with your family and friends so they too can learn more about cerebral palsy, our beautiful Ellie and our fundraising plight!

We thank everyone who has taken the time to read this and if you'd like to keep up to date with Ellie's progress, please follow her instagram page:

www.instagram.com/the.ellieeffect/