Ella, five, walks tall thanks to surgery in US

 
Growing strong: Chris and Caroline Gilbert of Chingford with their daughters Ella, centre, who has undergone pioneering surgery ,and her two-year-old sister Lois
12 April 2012

A five-year-old girl with cerebral palsy will this Christmas enjoy the best present she could receive - standing without her walking frame.

Ella Gilbert's family feared she faced a lifetime in a wheelchair or would, at best, be able only to shuffle "hunched over" a walking frame.

But after a £60,000 community fund-raising drive in Chingford where they live, she has undergone life-changing surgery in America.

Her mother and full-time carer, Caroline, 38, said today she felt a huge rush of emotion as Ella stood alone for three precious seconds.

"Words can't describe how happy I felt," she said.

Ella has struggled with mobility since birth and it had worsened in recent years. Last Christmas, she was in near-constant pain, needing Botox injections to manage the agony. She also suffers from mild epilepsy.

Her father, Chris, 37, said: "Now, Ella can walk nice and straight and put all her weight on her legs. She is just starting to get the confidence to let go of the sticks and can even sit cross-legged. Every day she grows stronger but will still need two years of physiotherapy."

The family launched the fundraising drive after being told no London hospital could help with her spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. An NHS unit in Bristol advised them to try an American specialist because the British waiting list was so long.

Sponsored coffee mornings, walks, cake sales and dinner dances all helped raise more than £50,000 towards their £60,000 target. This meant the family was able to travel to Missouri in the summer for one month.

Ella had two operations, including cutting spinal nerves and lengthening her hamstrings and Achilles tendons, which improved her posture and eased the pain.

Mr Gilbert, a management consultant, urged more NHS hospitals to provide the procedure. "Without the operation, she would be in a wheelchair for life," he said. "For lots of families, this is the best thing that can happen to address cerebral palsy." ellaswish.com

* Child patients at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital will soon have access to pioneering surgery using a robot, after a £1.5 million appeal soared past the halfway point. Nearly £894,000 has been donated to buy the robot, Pluto, which will help specialists perform intricate surgery with greater precision. GlaxoSmithKline donated £500,000 in June.

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