Lois Ella Russell is our 14 year old daughter who has severe Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, Dystonia, Epilepsy and a whole host of associated difficulties that come with being born with the level of brain damage that she was.

However, those who are lucky enough to know Lois will tell you that her disability is not what defines her. Instead she is rather infamous around these parts for her wicked sense of humour, her inspirational courage and bravery, and her all round awe inspiring amazingness!!!

Lois is very clever and loves to be around people, but not having a ‘voice’ makes it very difficult for her to communicate. Our family and her wonderful school have worked so hard over the years to help Lois communicate in any way she can, which has included using audio response books and switches. However, she gets extremely frustrated as her body doesn’t work as quickly as she would like it to, and on ‘bad’ days her body is just too exhausted to work at all. So at school she has been using Eyegaze technology which only requires her eyes (but which she has to share with her classmates), and she has got to the point where she is doing so well that we have been told she would benefit massively from having her own Eyegaze device which she can have with her and use 24/7.

Unfortunately this technology is not cheap, but we know that the benefit for Lois will be absolutely phenomenal! This device will enable her to communicate with those around her without her having to rely on using her body, which is increasingly starting to let her down when she gets tired (which is a lot!). It will also give her the ability to be in control and have a level of independence that she just doesn’t have currently. In short, this technology will open up our girl’s world in a way we never thought possible.

If you are able to donate, or would like to organise a fundraiser to help us reach our target, we would be so very grateful 🙏🏻

Thank you for taking the time to read our story 🥰