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Matilda is aged 3 from Hastings in East Sussex. She was born full term with no complications. However, an hour after birth she stopped breathing and had to be given rescue breaths. It is unclear whether this or a preterm infection is what caused her Cerebral Palsy, and it’s something we’ll never know for sure.
When Matilda was around 6 months old we noticed that she wasn’t developing the same way as her peers. She had both hands clenched and her thumbs tucked and she was unable to sit unaided. After months of blood tests, hospital appointments and an MRI, it was confirmed that she has PVL which is a loss to the white matter in the brain which can lead to Cerebral Palsy.
Matilda’s life is not like her toddler peers. Since her MRI in May 2023, Matilda has attended countless hospital appointments. She has daily physio sessions at home which are key to help her brain to rewire around the damage and to help her to do the things we all take for granted.
Matilda currently attends regular weekly therapies as well as the physio we do at home, and we currently spend between £800 - £1000 a month on these.
In 2025 we were lucky enough to take Matilda to All Kids Are Perfect in North Carolina for two weeks of intensive DMI therapy thanks to everyone’s generous donations and we would love to be able to do this on a yearly basis. They really are the best of the best and the progress Matilda made there was amazing. We also have a space at NAPA Centre London for two weeks of intensive physio in December 2025. None of this would have been possible without your help.
The difference that intensive models of DMI and physio make to children’s lives like Matilda’s is outstanding, and we would love to be able to continue to offer this to her at least once a year but as you can imagine, it is an expensive thing to do.
It’s not just the therapies that your donations go towards - it helps Just4Children buy equipment for home therapies and more. Matilda is also required to wear AFOs to help correct her walking gait and give her some more strength in her legs, these are specially made at The London Orthotic Clinic, and cost around £2,000 per year.
Matilda is the most hardworking and determined little fighter. If you can help her in any way we would be eternally grateful.
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