Imagine the symptoms of autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and severe anxiety disorders in one little girl...

On Sunday 11^th September ‘Team Lolly’ will be taking part in the Adidas Women’s Challenge in Hyde Park, London.  They will be undertaking the 5K challenge by running, walking and even attempting the course three-legged in order to help Lauren ‘Lolly’ Simmonds and all the beautiful girls suffering with Rett Syndrome.

Affecting mainly females Rett Syndrome is a debilitating disorder, which most often strikes previously healthy little girls just after they have learned to walk and say a few words and begins to drag their development backwards.  In Lauren’s case, she never learnt to walk or talk as the condition took hold early on in her life though skills such as drinking independently from her cup or self-feeding and playing with books or toys were lost.

As the cascade of Rett symptoms descends, girls lose acquired skills, normal movement and speech.  Lauren’s balance and awareness of space around her was severely affected.  Girls are left unable to communicate or use their hands to hold, carry or manipulate objects.  Lauren’s hand wringing is such that it hinders her ability to do most activities including pointing to something that she wants or being able to learn any form of sign language as a means to communicate.  Even simple day-to-day tasks such as washing or getting dressed prove difficult because of her rigid tone and hand clasping.

Over time, girls who have learned to walk often lose that ability as well. Loss of motor control sets in, essentially locking these girls into bodies that won't work, leaving them without the ability to make purposeful movements.

Complications are many, including:

- Disordered breathing
- Severe digestive problems
- Difficulty eating, chewing and swallowing
- Orthopaedic abnormalities such as scoliosis and fragile bones
- Disrupted sleep patterns
- Extreme anxiety
- Seizures
- Impaired cardiac and circulatory function
- Parkinson-like tremors
- Sudden and unexplained death  

 But there is hope. Researchers have successfully reversed Rett syndrome in the lab - and scientists across the world believe that Rett could be the first reversible neurological disorder. Click on the video (on the left) to hear more about this. Funds are urgently needed to keep the research going and bring forward the day when girls like Lauren are set free.

Please support Team Lolly to help them reach their target and raise those vital funds for research needed to help Lauren and her friends.