Newlife charity raising cash to buy lonely girl a wheelchair so she can play with her friends

Francesca Cirillo spends every playtime sitting alone in her classroom watching her friends having fun outside.

The five year old, from Hardwick, has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3, a condition that affects her ability to stand and walk.

She finds her wheelchair too difficult to push by herself and so chooses to stay inside rather than be supervised by an adult during break, as she can’t spend time with her friends on her own.

Her father, Domenico says: “It has been really heartbreaking for us to see Francesca become so lonely. She used to love going to nursery school but she finds it hard needing an adult to push her around all the time - she just wants to be able to join in with her friends without being supervised.

“Francesca spends a lot of time by herself – SMA has really affected her confidence and is holding her back from being able to form social groups, in and out of school – anyone with a five-year-old knows how important that is. Having a powered wheelchair would allow her to keep up with her friends and give her the confidence to interact more with her classmates because she wouldn’t need an adult with her all the time.

“She has reached an age where she is starting to ask more questions about her condition – she knows she is different, she knows she doesn’t have the same abilities as her friends – but this chair would give her some independence and that is vital for her as she grows.”

Frustratingly, because she can walk a few steps Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Wheelchair Services have refused to give her a powered wheelchair that would enable her to move about independently and join in the fun at playtime.

Instead they were only able to provide a manual wheelchair, but her hand tremors and muscle weakness means she wouldn’t be able to self-propel, so is forced to rely on an adult to push her around – preventing her from spending time with her friends on her own.

Francesca’s dad, Domenico, said: “We have ploughed all our savings into giving Francesca a safe place to live and making our home more accessible for her. We just don’t have the money to buy the wheelchair too.”

Francesca’s occupational therapist has written to Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Wheelchair Services to ask for her to be reassessed. The service has recently been taken over by new providers AMJ Healthcare. After speaking with the Cambridge Independent, the service said they would look call Francesca in for a review of her case.

However, desperate to give Francesca to have the childhood she deserves, Domenico and his wife Magdalena, turned to Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children for help.

The charity is now urgently calling on the local community and businesses to help raise £3,780 needed to buy Francesca the £10,000 wheelchair so she can play with her friends and have the independence she craves.

Wheels for Martin’s Friends, a local charity in Cambridgeshire, has already donated £3,000 towards the wheelchair and Newlife has earmarked funds from its regional pot to help Francesca.

Newlife’s Senior Manager for Care Services, Carrick Brown, said: “Not having the right equipment can make a child feel isolated, alone and different – and these feelings can all contribute to poor mental wellbeing. It is so important that children with disabilities, like Francesca, have the confidence to be the best version of themselves and the right equipment is essential to that. We really want to get her this powered wheelchair so she can start to fully enjoy her school life – but we only have a limited amount of funds available at this time.”

Anyone who is able to help Francesca should urgently contact Newlife on 01543 431444, Text NEWLIFE FRAN TO 70500, visit the website at newlife.support/HelpFran or email local@newlifecharity.co.uk.

Newlife also has another 31 children on its waiting list for specialist equipment in the East of England so needs to raise £64,792 to help them all. Money raised above the amount needed for Francesca’s wheelchair will help other disabled children in need of specialist equipment in the region.