Emma's Therapy Pool

Emma is 12 and lives with me (mum) in Edmonton, just South of Cairns. She has a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy and Dystonia. She is non-verbal and relies on a wheelchair for mobility.
Emma is unable to sit up independently and also requires assistance for rolling and any other position changes like adjusting the way she sits in a chair. This reliance on others only disappears when she is in water. With the help of a simple swim ring and close monitoring she can independently move around in water, and she loves that! In addition, swimming has many, evidence-based benefits for people with mobility restrictions which is why Emma’s physical therapists recommend regular and ongoing hydrotherapy.

The funds raised will go towards a hydrotherapy pool as part of her wheelchair accessible forever home, which will be built in two stages. Stage one is a new construction, an extension that includes Emma’s accessible bedroom and bathroom, an undercover outdoor area and the pool. Stage two will hopefully be possible in the future and see the existing house renovated to include an accessible kitchen, laundry, living space, a bedroom for me and a spare bedroom for Emma’s Omi and carers.

Until a few weeks ago, I believed to be able to build the pool without money from donations. My bank gave pre-approval for a loan amount, based on an estimate by the builder, leaving the money from years of selling chocolates, collecting containers and saving child support payments to pay for the pool. However, my plans were crushed when I found out about the more than 30% increase in construction costs for the stage one living space caused by the effects of Covid and increased costs of living. Our entire savings now have to go towards the living space construction to reduce the loan amount to fit within my borrowing capacity.

Emma desperately needs her accessible living space to continue to learn to live independently and postponing the build would most likely mean it will never happen.

Any donation is greatly appreciated. If you prefer to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact me.


Sincerely,
Mum
(Doreen)