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Charity bid to help Leeds girl walk
PLAY DREAMS: Eve Williams with parents Gina and David and sister Scarlett.
Athletics will be pushed to their limit to help a Leeds girl walk for the very first time.
Seven-year-old Eve Williams, who was born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy affecting her arms and legs, dreams of walking and playing with her two-year-old sister Scarlett.
The Williams family, from Menston, need to raise £45,000 to fund a life-changing operation for Eve in America.
They are calling on the city’s athletes to tackle a two-hour boot camp in their bid to raise the money.
Dad David, 39, said: “We are up to around £16,000 now and we need to get to £45,000 by July to get to America.
“We are only one-third of the way there in less than one-third of the time. The support has been fantastic.”
The complex operation at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri will correct scrambled signals in Eve’s nerves and improve her mobility.
Eve will then have to undergo gruelling physiotherapy sessions to help strengthen her muscles.
David and wife Gina first realised something was wrong when Eve was unable to crawl at nine-months-old.
Eve, who was born three months early, was only able to use her right hand and couldn’t sit up.
It was thanks to their close friends the Wardleworths, whose daughter Annabelle had the pioneering surgery in America last year, that they heard about the procedure.
The Williams family aim to raise a further £30,000 to pay for Eve’s physiotherapy after her operation in July.
David added: “It is just amazing to think that this time next year Eve will be able to walk on her own.
“It is a struggle, especially as she gets older. Eve needs someone to carry her or some equipment to help her move.
“It’s been hard on Eve seeing her two-year-old sister do everything and she wants to be exactly the same.”
To sign up for the event at David Lloyd Centre in Leeds on February 25, visit: www.evesjourney.co.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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