Maisy, the disabled daughter of serving soldier Robin and his wife, Heidi, now enjoys participating fully in school and family activities after we helped with funding for a new wheelchair.
Robin joined the Army in 2006, starting his career with 16 Regiment Army Air Corps and undertaking two tours of Afghanistan. He is now a serving LCpl stationed at RAF Honington as a member of the Military Provost Guard Service, the Adjutant General’s Corps. He lives in Suffolk with his wife, Heidi, and three daughters, Ruby, Maisy and Tilly.
Maisy has bilateral cerebral palsy. She uses a tablet to communicate and has used a wheelchair since she was four years old. Her wheelchair is pivotal to her day-to-day life, enabling her to participate fully in school activities and family trips.
Maisy recently outgrew her old wheelchair and, because of changes in NHS criteria, the family learned they could no longer receive a funded NHS wheelchair, although her care needs remained unchanged. The family contacted a SSAFA Personal Family Support Worker (PFSW) whilst they were stationed at RAF Wittering and SSAFA approached our charity for funding.
Our charity agreed to contribute £1400 towards a new wheelchair, which was a huge relief for the family. Maisy was able to choose the look for her wheelchair, which is a lightweight model and easy for the family to transport.
Heidi says: “We are proud as a family; it’s hard for me to accept help. The wheelchair has made a huge difference. Being light, I can manage on my own and put it in the car and we can get out and about. We now go everywhere with the wheelchair. Maisy is delighted with it.”
The family have kindly expressed their gratitude for our charity’s help: “You have been amazing. We want to say thank you. Not sure what we would have done if we had not been encouraged to ask for help by our SSAFA PFSW, Paula. The lightweight wheelchair means that as a family we can go on walks and shopping.”