Some of you may already know that in September I will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, originally set as a personal challenge however back in 2015 I was a Nurse for a young lady called Antonia.
Antonia was 18 at the time, now 20, she has a chronic illness called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder, which causes hypermobility. The variability of symptoms with EDS is huge making it not so easy to treat and also life limiting.
After 5 long years in hospital, Antonia is finally home thanks to the awesome DIYSOS team, who adapted Antonia's family home to make it more accessible, safe and adaptable to Antonia's needs.
However, since meeting Antonia at 18 she has worked so hard among her daily struggles of living with EDS to create her own Charity called Enabled to help others in her shoes who have a Chronic Illness be more enabled in their daily living. The Charity is focused on 14-25 year olds, and the idea came about whilst Antonia was in hospital herself where she experienced other teenage patients like herself that were in the transition stages from paediatric to adult care. This time for them is often very scary with a big amount of changes happening and lot of responsibility to take regarding their treatment. They often get misunderstood and feel lost, Antonia now runs a support group for this also.
Enabled not only provides the emotional support but also helps with physical mobility by getting the right equipment (i.e. Showers, Wheelchairs, ramps etc) in place, as well as supporting them through their education for those that are too unwell to go to school so that they can achieve the same education that their peers are getting.Enabled need to raise enough money to make this possible for others and I would like to ask that a donation no matter how big or small will help these young people live a more free and independent life they deserve as they step in to adulthood. Please visit https://www.weareenabled.org.uk Tx Tori x