Cerebral Palsy

Adorable Amber Atkins is determined to one day walk for the first time - and today her parents appealed for people to help make that dream come true.

The resolute five-year-old has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound.

However, her and her parents have refused to give up the possibility of achieving what many of us take for granted - being able to take her first steps.

Her parents Jason and Lyn Atkins are desperate to raise the money needed for their happy little girl to receive the best physiotherapy treatment possible.

They want to send their daughter to the state-of-the-art Footsteps Centre in Oxford. Amber spent three weeks their last year, during which time the affects were dramatic.

Mr Atkins, 36, from Oxnead Road, in Mile Cross, said today: “We had heard about the Footsteps centre on a TV programme. The physiotherapists use really advanced techniques developed to help astronauts build up muscle strength. We booked Amber in for an intensive three-week course last year and it was amazing - we saw such a change in her.”

The youngster was starved of oxygen during birth and the damage caused to her brain later meant she was wheelchair bound and struggled to speak.

The neurological condition means messages from her brain do not connect with the rest of the body, but it is believed with specialist treatment, she has the chance of being able to walk.

During her previous time at the centre, the Mile Cross Primary School pupil learnt how to kick a football - but she needs the treatment to continue to give her every hope of building up enough muscles to walk by herself.

Mr Atkins, a father of two, added: “Amber can not stand or walk unaided but now she can sit up and feed herself. The centre used this one piece of equipment called a spider which is just amazing - it's like a collection of bungees and she can stand freely but supported. By being in this for a few hours a day, five days a week for three weeks it means she will in time be able to do this on her own.

“We really want to give her the opportunity to go to the centre again - the effects are dramatic. We would love to take Amber as many times as possible to enable her to get more independence - it would change her life.”

Her parents have already raises £9,000 for an electric wheelchair, with help from the Variety Club.

The three-week programme costs £2,400, including accommodation, and is not paid for by the NHS, so Mr Atkins and wife Lyn are hoping to raise the money to take Amber again this summer.

To collect the cash the pair have organised a fundraising concert at The Talk on Oak Street on Saturday, May 31.

They have planned a 1960s evening with band Cloud Nine and hope the event is a sell out.

Mrs Atkins said: “Amber is brilliant, she's determined and works really hard. We want to give her this chance.

“We've found that when children are disabled they're given a lot of support until they reach school, so now Amber only has about three or four physiotherapy sessions a year. Unfortunately everything comes down to money as soon as disability is mentioned. She's just like any other little girl - she loves dressing up, she likes make up and dolls - she's absolutely adorable.”

The centre was set up three and a half years ago by Pip Millar who also had a child with cerebral palsy and had heard about some of the techniques being developed in Poland.

She said the methods used now mean her 15-year-old daughter Minty can walk independently.

She said: “The repetitive exercises help to correct the neuropath ways. Having cerebral palsy means the muscles are not getting the correct messages.

“Our approach is that everything is a game. These children have tough lives and sometimes physio can be very boring, but everything they do here is fun and is helping them. We use a lot of treats to motivate them.”

Through the NHS, Amber is only offered a few yearly sessions of physiotherapy and there is no funding available for the private clinic.

However, her parents feel that to improve, their daughter needs more intense treatment.