I'm walking Hadrian's Wall in aid of 'The Twins Appeal'  Katie and Emma's 'Wish to Walk'.

This is an 84 miles Coast to Coast Walk which I'm doing via the Hadrian's Wall Passport Scheme.

If you Sponsor me you will be helping to make Katie & Emma's 'Wish to Walk' come ture, which is such a wonderful thing to do.

If you want to find out why I'm so passionate about raising money for this appeal, please read on.

Katie and Emma were born prematurely and at 18 months old were diagnosed as having Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy. This means that they are unable to walk and unable to stand. As they have matured, their condition has gotten progressively worse and both girls now use a powered wheelchair when outside and crutches when inside.

This is much more than an inconvenience. Katie and Emma have a lot of pain and discomfort due to the tightness in their muscles. The progressive rigidity in their limbs reduces their mobility even further. In all likelihood, Katie and Emma’s future will see them wheelchair bound as adults. 

Katie and Emma need constant daily support to live with their mobility problems. And their condition is often emotionally difficult to bear.  Katie and Emma want to be regular teenagers, spontaneous and on the go. But their condition means activities are limited and every aspect of their life has to be planned and thought out. Will there be wheelchair access?  What if they are out and feel particularly unwell? Are their friends willing to make allowances and adjustments when going out? Sometimes, this causes both frustration and sadness for Katie and Emma. Sometimes their future prospects look very dim indeed.

But miraculously Katie and Emma may no longer have to live like this. A life changing procedure can enable them to enjoy carefree teenage years and go on to become independent adults. The Sutclilffe family were surprised and delighted to learn about a remarkable operation called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy  which can help their condition firstly by cutting nerves in the spine to release the spasticity of their muscles. This will also eradicate the pain their condition causes and Katie and Emma will be able to move around much more normally and with much less effort.

The operation has a 100% success rate and has been carried out for over 25 years. Available at the St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri, USA this means that Katie and Emma will have to travel to America. Consequently, to achieve their dream of independence, Katie and Emma will have to raise £85, 000 to pay for the operation and treatment.

‘A little from everybody will make a lot of difference to Katie and Emma’s lives, and I would be very grateful for any donation, however big or small.’ :  to date through campaigns at supermarkets, Family Fun Days, raffles and sponsored walks, just to name a few, Katie and Emma together with family and friends, have raised an incredible, £ 30, 000  which is one third of the target.  Please help me to get them closer to their target, it means so much to me!

National charity, Caudwell Children, is supporting Katie and Emma and other children and young people like them by raising money to fund ground breaking treatments and physiotherapy which can help children with Cerebral Palsy walk independently for the first time.Caudwell Children transforms the lives of sick and disabled children across the UK and has changed the lives of children with over 160 different medical conditions. Ambassadors for the charity include Hollywood actress and author, Joan Collins, actress Elizabeth Hurley and Robbie Williams.

For more information and inspiration photos of Katie and Emma, check out their Facebook Page and Twitter profile.

http://www.facebook.com/thetwinsappeal/info