A fundraiser for an eight-year-old girl with cerebral palsy in Barnsley has raised over £20,000 for a lift that will ‘change her life’.
Four family friends who set up the GoFundMe page have hit their target in less than two weeks to install a lift in Chris and Beth Pollock’s home in Barnsley, as their daughter is unable to walk due to cerebral palsy
The family have been up against the clock to raise funds as planning permission for the life-changing equipment is set to expire September this year, but the money means they can now go ahead.
Mrs Pollock, 38, said: “It will change her life and she will be the same as everybody else. She’ll be able to go toilet on her own and play with her friends on her own.
“I’m not a massive crier but I’ve cried so many times over the weekend about everyone’s generosity and supportiveness.”
Betsy was born at Barnsley hospital after traumatic labour where she was starved of oxygen for 16 minutes causing a brain injury.
Both parents have needed to carry Betsy upstairs which has been getting harder as she grows older. There have also been some tough times for the family.
Mrs Pollock said: “The only difficulty for me is that she’ll ask a question like ‘Mummy will I ever walk?’ and she always asks me when I’m not expecting it.
“So, I do that thing when I go to the bathroom and cry and then I’ll go downstairs and answer the question.”
Rebecca Fearn, 38, is one of the family friends that helped set up the fundraiser, she said:
“We had talked about doing a fundraiser for quite a few years, but Beth and Chris were reluctant to do it as it isn’t really their thing.
“I think now because the funding was running out they knew that we had to do something so that’s why they gave us their blessing for the page.”
Betsy has loved the attention and reading all of the messages on the fundraiser, especially as her mum said that “she’s had a bit of wobble recently with accepting that she’s never going to walk or never going to lead what is considered a normal life.”
“But she thinks she’s famous writing autographs for people at school and pretending that her little brother, who is four, is her personal assistant.”
Any additional funds over £20,000 will go towards the perfect wet room for Betsy which will allow her to gain even more independence, such as going to the toilet and washing her hands on her own.
The family and friends have planned a park run on 2nd April at Locke Park in Barnsley to raise the further funds where Betsy will take part.
Mrs Pollock said: “I said to her ‘look you don’t have to do it’ because she has to wear splints and last time her feet were bleeding, and she was quite poorly.
“But she’s determined.”
If you would like to donate click here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/betsys-lift-to-independence?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet