Nine-year-old girl's life-changing wheelchair | Times Reports

The Times and Sunday Times Christmas appeal raised more than £2.1 million for a trio of good causes at home and abroad.
Whizz Kids provides wheelchairs to some of the 75,000 children in the UK who need them and often struggle to get help from the NHS - many under-fives are not eligible for mobility aids.
Annabel French loves learning about world records. She has only been in her new wheelchair for a few minutes when an ambition starts forming.
“Time me!” she says, challenging her mother and the rest of the people at the WhizzKidz wheelchair clinic to count how many times she can spin around in a minute. “I don’t think there’s a world record yet for how many times you can spin in a wheelchair.”
Dizzy and delighted, she manages 15 - a feat that would have been unthinkable in the slow, heavy wheelchair she was struggling with until now.
The nine-year-old suffers from pain and stiffness in her joints as a result of hypermobility, as well as abnormally low muscle tone. It means that ­although she can walk very short distances, she must rely on a wheelchair at least part of the time otherwise she is “wiped out”, according to her mother Suzanne, a teacher.
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#disability #wheelchair #charity #children

[@julianaylor4351]

I'm glad such organisations exist. But the NHS has had its funding run into the ground over many years, so they simply cannot offer people, like this girl, what she needs.

[@110311DONTWANTCHANNE]

a basic off the shelf chair like in the beginning is pretty cheap (less than $200 USD) and you can get a used one cheaper.....but they are not good for regular use. I would think they could have bought a cheap version like that.

[@ايهمالنابهي-ف5م]

فلسطين حرة

[@Justins_Berryavanu2]

Not being rude but why does she need a wheelchair if she can perfectly fine?

[@kssss548]

I have the same illness as she does and in my experience, while it looks fine walking around and all, once you walk for a few minutes it really hurts. The worst is when you come home at night and the pain is so bad you can't sleep

[@Justins_Berryavanu2]

Ohhh I'm so sorry I didn't know that

[@elvenrights2428]

Don't pain and stiffness in her joints as a result of hypermobility, as well as abnormally low muscle tone limit her ability to use manual wheelchair herself? Wouldn't be electric wheelchair better for her?

[@110311DONTWANTCHANNE]

she seems to do good, some people have more strength in arms than legs, and there is a handle for the care taker to push. a motor chair is HEAVY and hard to transport. even the newer ones with lithium batteries are about 50 pounds.