'Every child should have the opportunity to be independent'

THOUSANDS of children are in danger of missing out on crucial independence because they are waiting too long for life-changing wheelchairs.

- BY HANNA GEISSLER Health Editor JONATHAN BUCKMASTER Pictures

Having a personalised wheelchair gives the gift of freedom to youngsters like Harper Bailey, three, and Jake Annalls, four.

But the charity that helped them - and has supported families who fall through cracks in NHS provision for decades - is now in crisis.

The Daily Express is launching an urgent Christmas fundraising appeal for Whizz Kidz, which has recently made the heartbreaking decision to close its waiting list for the first time in 35 years.

We are today calling on generous readers to help us Give the Gift of Childhood this Christmas. Harper's mum Yasmin Grover, 25, said: “Every child should have the opportunity to be independent, regardless of whether they can walk or speak. Why should a child not have some type of aid to experience the world the way we do?”

Harper was born with rare muscle disorder distal arthrogryposis and scoliosis which causes her spine to curve. She is small for her age and people often assumed she was much younger when she was carried in a pram, Yasmin said.

Harper was offered a manual wheelchair by the NHS but it was extremely hard for her to push.

Whizz Kidz stepped in and gave her a powered wheelchair in April, which has transformed her life.

Yasmin added: “It’s been the best thing that has ever happened for Harper. It makes Harper feel less intimidated because in a pram people talk to her like she’s a baby, rather than a three-year-old.

“Before, she wouldn't really talk to anyone. Now she'll go up to people and start conversations. She has just got so much more confidence. A child who cannot walk or move around, they will just learn to use the aids they're given - that is their legs. The chair for them is their way of getting around. For her, there's no difference.”