In the early hours of Saturday 22nd July, my twin sister woke up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. As she made her way back to bed, she tripped over. The fall caused one of the discs in her neck to push into her spinal cord, resulting in Leah needing emergency surgery on her neck to remove the disc and replace it with a prosthetic disc. We were told that without the efforts of the paramedics and the A&E department at the Royal London Hospital, Leah would have been left paraplegic.

Following successful surgery on Saturday 22nd July, Leah is currently at the Royal London Hospital recovering from her surgery and starting physiotherapy. Leah has thankfully regained feeling in all four limbs, but is unable to move her right leg, and has limited movement in her left leg. Whilst she can move her arms, Leah struggles to use her fingers.

The hospital have told us that they want to send her to a specialistic rehabilitation centre with the hope that Leah will one day walk again. Unfortunately, there is no bed available and Leah has been told that she may have to wait three months for a bed.

In the meantime, Leah would be stuck in a hospital bed for three months, with physiotherapists visiting her three times a week.

Her surgeon has recommended that Leah is transferred to a private specialist rehabilitation centre whilst waiting for the NHS rehab centre to have a bed available. Leah's doctors believe that the sooner she receives the specialist rehabilitation care that she desperately needs, the greater the chance that Leah will one day walk again.

The private rehabilitation centre costs have been estimated by the hospital to be £1500 per week. We are therefore hoping to raise enough money to get Leah a minimum of six-weeks private rehab whilst waiting for her NHS bed.

Please give as little or as much as you can - this is going to mean the difference between Leah walking again, and getting back to the job that she loves as a PE teacher, or Leah spending the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

Thank you all so much.

Lisa, Paul, Craig, Leah and Joe.