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Myself and Mark are going to be walking from Pipers Row bus station in Wolverhampton to Pool Meadow Bus Station in Coventry, a total of 32.5 miles in just one day.

This walk is to raise funds for Kaitlan Rogers to visit John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore USA, the only specialist centre in the world for her condition Transverse Myelitis.

Kaitlan was born 23rd November 1999. She was born "normal" and was an early walker at 9 months old. Kaitlan like most children once she found her feet was into anything and everything! One night just after her first birthday in December 2000 Kaitlan was struck down with a one in a billion condition called Transverse Myelitis. Transverse Myelitis is a condition when the body's own immune system attacks the spinal cord causing inlammation/swelling, leaving signals from the brain to the body unable to get past the swelling causing paralysis.

In the space of a couple of hours Kaitlan was paralysed from the chin down unable to move her legs, arms, hands, only her head from side to side. Kaitlans condition got steadily worse and an emergency MRI scan was needed requiring general anaesthetic. Kaitlans parents were told she only had a 20% chance of breathing when she was brought out of the anaesthetic and tto be prepared for intensive care.

Kaitlan was baptised at Birmingham Childrens Hospital, and a miracal occured when she came around from the anaesthetic by herself and did not need to go into intensive care. That night the world came tumbling down around Kaitlan and her family and the words Transverse Myelitis came to take over every living day and form a huge part of their lives.

Overall we need to raise $41,000 for a full assesment of Kaitlan at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore USA with world Specialinst Dr Kerr and his team. The full investigation assesment by the centre will establish Kaitlans condition now, and try to establish what should be working but lying dormant, and create a plan forward to maximise her future recovery. Kaitlan had a consultation with dr Kerr while he was on a visit to the UK in Sept 2007. He reviewed Kaitlans MRI scans and he viewed that there appeared to be a lot more recovery than Kaitlan was physically showing and he wanted her to come to the centre for a 2 week period for assesment to see what could be done in creating a programme to aid recovery. The centre does use a treatment that may help Kaitlans recovery called FES (Functional Electronic Stimulation). Not available in the UK it involves working with sensors on the legs stimulating the nerves and establishing new pathways to the brain that maybe there. Dr Kerr believes that the window of recovery in children with Transverse Myelitis remains open as the body is still growing and renewing itself.

By visiting the centre we hope Kaitlan can regain any mobility outside of her wheelchair.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Transverse Myelitis Society gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor us now!

......and thankyou :-)