Pippas road to recovery

Hi, My name is Shaunagh, cousin of Julie O'Shea, Pippa's mummy.

I have taken it upon myself to set up this fundraiser with Julie & Marks's permission. This fundraiser is for a very beautiful little five-year-old girl named Pippa. Pippa has been suffering for the last year and a half, and I want to give you a brief insight. In September 2021, Pippa went for an MRI in the Royal hospital after losing all her speech rapidly. She had fantastic speech up to this point. The MRI showed some changes on the white matter of her brain, and she was then referred to the neurology department, where she was placed on a waiting list; after this MRI, Pippa regressed rapidly and lost all skills she once had. Months passed, and after enquiring when she would be seen, Julie was told Pippa was taken off the waiting list as they didn't see anything of concern.

Julie & Mark then decided to look into private care; after visiting the London children's hospital and after running lots of tests, they thought Pippa had a type of encephalopathy and recommended Pippa see a pediatric Neurologist in Portland hospital, where they could take her as an inpatient. Long story short, after seeing the doctor there, they discovered after an EEG was carried out that Pippa had seizure activity in her brain all day and night; a lumbar puncture also showed elevated protein in her spinal fluid. The cost for these two tests alone was £35,000, which Mark & Julie have paid out as their insurance does not cover them. This is only a fraction of what has been spent to date.

Pippa's life is the opposite of what it used to be; she lived such a great, fun and happy life, but her once bright eyes are now blank.

Pippa is now unable to speak, has absent seizures, severe fatigue, photosensitivity, cognitive difficulties, and inability to play, write or think. She is unable to attend school.

In July, Pippa was started on treatment in London, where she made significant gains; she got her spark back, started to play and regained speech. In September, Pippa was admitted to the royal, where there was no successful outcome, there are weeks between her appointments, and she needs urgent care. Mark & Julie want to take Pippa back to London, where a plan is in place to get her back to her full potential and a team of doctors who are confident in what they are dealing with,

There are a lot of unknowns but what is certain is her path to health will be expensive.

As it stands from the results that are back is very likely that Pippa has a form of developmental epileptic encephalopathy linked to psychomotor regression, photosensitivity and focal epilepsy.

As a family, we never asked for help for Pippa from the public, but the reality of her health diagnosis is that we do need support to help Pippa recover and give her back her quality of life.

Not only that, I have watched the strain this family has been under, trying to care for Pippa 24/7, her two young sisters and run their businesses. It's an incredibly stressful and uncertain time, and we can make it a little easier by helping with the costs of her treatment plan.

Please donate what you can or even give this a share. Every penny will be forever indebted to Pippa's treatment. And we hope and pray that Pippa will be sharing her story and be able to help so many others before long.

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