52 Lives

#130 Oscar

Request: Donations for a car seat and pushchair / gifts for his sisters

This week, we want to help a boy from Yorkshire called Oscar, who is almost 4 years old. Oscar was born prematurely and has a condition called severe bilateral dystonic cerebral palsy. It means he can’t walk, sit unaided, feed himself, or speak. He communicates mostly using his eyes. Oscar doesn’t sleep very well either. He wakes up every couple of hours during the night, as he often gets himself into awkward positions and needs his parents to readjust him.

Oscar has been having regular physiotherapy since he was a baby, and requires a lot equipment to improve his quality of life. 

He is about to outgrow his specialist carseat. The new one he needs will cost a massive £2000. Without it, Oscar will have to rely on public transport. His parents live down a country lane, and would have to push him almost a mile down an unpaved road to the nearest bus stop, for a bus service that runs only 4 times a day. With constant trips to the hospital, physio and occupational therapist, it just isn’t practical.

Oscar also needs a specialist pushchair, which will cost around £460. The NHS will provide funding for Oscar to have a wheelchair, however, he can't have funding for both a wheelchair and a pushchair - the choice is one or the other.

Oscar will need a wheelchair for school in September, so his parents have decided to use the NHS funding for that. However, the wheelchair can only be used on flat surfaces and where Oscar lives is not flat. Which means they won't be able to take him outside very easily. Oscar absolutely loves being outside, watching the trees and feeling the breeze, so his parents are desperate for him to have a pushchair as well.

The list of equipment and support that Oscar needs is endless, and his parents spend most of their time fundraising to try to help him as much as they can. They have just managed to raise funds to take Oscar to Canada for treatment that they hope will help improve his condition, but they may now have to cancel the trip so they can buy the carseat and pushchair.

His mum said: “We are at breaking point and we are considering cancelling his treatment to buy these items - it's so hard to choose between something practical that he needs and an opportunity to enhance his mobility.”

We think this family could do with some kindness. So, with your help, we would love to try to buy the carseat and pushchair for Oscar. 

What We Need

1. Donations - We need to raise £2460 for a special carseat and pushchair for Oscar. Any donations we receive above this amount will be put towards other equipment that Oscar needs. To make a donation, please click the button below. As always, 100% of what you give will go directly to helping this family. 

2. Gift for Oscar's sisters - Oscar has two older sisters, Katie aged 18 and Lilia aged 9. Their mum says they absolutely adore Oscar and always take a back seat due to his extensive needs. Oscar also had an older brother, but he died before Oscar was born. We would love to give the girls a few special things. To buy a gift, please click the button below to visit the Amazon wishlist.

What We Did

We raised £2534.34 - which means Oscar is going to have the car seat and pushchair he desperately needs.

We sent hundreds of pounds worth of gifts for Oscar's sisters

It was a lot to raise in such a short time and without so many of you helping to spread the word it wouldn't have been possible. As always, 100% of this money will go to helping Oscar.

Thankyou so much to everyone who donated, and also to everyone who bought gifts for Oscar's sisters. It is such a treat for them, and they are so grateful. A special thanks to Matt and Kelly from the Sunshine Coast for their amazing support and to Gala Bingo for their incredible fundraising efforts. 

Your kindness has made this family's life so much better.