Christmas Appeal for JJ
This Christmas we urgently need your help for a nine-year-old boy with Cerebral Palsy called Jordan, who likes to be known as JJ. You might remember him from one of our previous appeals.Thanks to the kindness of AFK supporters like you, we were able to buy JJ a powered wheelchair with a rising chair mechanism called a ‘Bobcat' in 2004, when he was just five. Since then JJ has had quite a growth spurt and is now too big for his Bobcat.
In Autumn JJ's mum Tracey made a very worrying discovery. An abnormal kink had appeared in her son's spine. The family doctor confirmed it was first sign of scoliosis, a terribly debilitating and painful condition that can affect young people with Cerebral Palsy and cause them to have permanently twisted backs. We urgently need to provide JJ with the Permobile C400VS Junior wheelchair that will support his whole back, helping him to avoid painful spinal surgery - or worse still a permanently twisted back - later in his teens.
The perfect wheelchair for JJ would support his back but also allow him to stand up straight. JJ is the eldest and he's determined to do more things on his own now, like making a snack in the kitchen and reaching the shelves. A powered wheelchair with a standing mechanism would help him gain this independence and also mean he could talk to his friends face-to-face. And the physiotherapist thinks that JJ could use a wheelchair like the Permobile C400VS to do exercises that help maintain his mobility, which is just what he needs.
As for JJ's Bobcat, which is in good working order and could be refurbished by our Mobility Equipment Maintenance Project, it could be given to another little girl or boy, or may even go to a school where it can be used by a number of children.
Click here to donate. We do hope you will be able to make this bubbly young boy's dreams come true this Christmas.
