Ali is a determined, energetic, fun loving girl and a little adrenaline junky. She is a super intelligent little bean who loves to learn, read, sing and dance and loves being pushed on the swing higher than anyone else at the park! Ali has just turned 3 and her favourite things are cows, sheepdogs, talking about the weather and about food (especially marmalade sandwiches), parks and stretching after a power-nap.

Ali suffered a severe brain injury at birth. The damage due to a lack of oxygen injured a very important part of her brain (the Basal Ganglia) which in basic terms is the muscle control centre for literally every part of the body. For Ali this means she has Quadriplegic Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy, she cannot move via rolling, crawling or walking independently, she cannot eat or drink orally and cannot speak.

Whilst cells in our body can regenerate and repair, brain cells cannot which means that her injury is lifelong. There is however the miracle that is Neuroplasticity – this is very complex but essentially it is a brains ability to reorganise and re-wire connections allowing cells to take on some of the function of those that are damaged. Neuroplasticity peaks during childhood which is why early intervention through very specialist therapies is essential for Ali and due to the limited resources this is something which is not available via the NHS.

Just4Children have had some amazing support from donors over the past year and this has allowed us to access the best therapies we can find. Ali has worked hard, completed 9 weeks of intensive therapy alongside weeksly sessions so far this year which in terms of energy and hours is similar to running over 40 marathons – can you even imagine! That’s alongside a huge number of other achievements, medical emergencies, hospital stays and just being 2 (now 3!) which obviously requires a good number of trips to the park, making a lot of felt sandwiches in a tiny Alice sized kitchen and general silliness!

So what’s next…

Ali is smashing goals and proving her resilience, in a difficult year when she has had multiple hospital admissions, a new diagnosis of epilepsy and had to adjust to the side-effects of anti-seizure medication she has also made incredible progress physically. Her intelligence and determination are the ideal combination – not many people could face the challenges she does and smile through the hard work that’s needed to make such progress.

We’ve found some of the best and most suitable therapies for Ali right now and we are now determined to help her access as much input as possible to help rebuild the lost connections in her brain and give her the best possible chance of independent movement, communication and a healthy body.

Over the next year we’re aiming to access a number of intensive therapy blocks where this year we have seen such amazing results and Alice has loved the input and been so excited by the physical changes and rewards of her hard work. In addition to this we are exploring Stem Cell Therapy in the US. Physiotherapy can support progress but the progress seen in children who can access Stem Cell Treatment can be taken even further and offer life-changing results.

We are setting some really ambitious targets, aiming to match Alice’s tenacious nature and do everything we can to help her achieve the future she deserves. In the coming year we’re aiming to access the following;

- 3-week physiotherapy block in London

- 4 x 1 week specialist physiotherapy blocks in the UK with travelling therapist from the US and Canada

- Monthy intensive sessions in CME therapy

- Private speech and language therapy to support with communication and oral skills for eating

- 1 week hydrotherapy intensive

- Bi-weekly private occupational therapy to improve reflex integration and fine motor skills

Plus access to a variety of therapeutic services;

-myofacial therapy

-hippotherapy

-rebound therapy

-hydrotherapy

-HBOT

-Red light therapy

-stem cell therapy

AliToo is about giving Alice access to join in, to be included and strive for independence. Your support means more to us than we can ever put into words and it’s incredibly humbling to have you contribute to Ali’s future.

We would love for you to follow along with Ali’s progress, see the impact of our collective fundraising efforts and hear more about what we’re up to each week @alitoo.adventure

A huge thank-you from Team AliToo!

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