The parents of a young Coupar Angus girl are appealing for donations so she can undergo an operation that may help her walk unaided.
Nine-year-old Wiktoria Mucha was born with cerebral palsy and has limited mobility as a result.
Her mother and father, Aneta and Tomasz, believe that the best chance for her to enjoy a more active life is to travel to America for selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery, the same operation that Almondbank toddler Jack McNaughton underwent this year.
They now hope to raise £40,000 to pay for the treatment at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri and other related costs.
Tomasz said, “In the future, after intensive rehabilitation we hope and strongly believe that Wiktoria would walk independently.
“We can see that our daughter is extremely tired and resigned. She is constantly asking us why other children can walk and she can’t.
“It’s hard for us to explain this to her because sometimes we ask this question ourselves.
“Time is important to her as she is a tall girl and she’s growing quickly, so her muscles are becoming more and more tense, which causes deformation of her spine, hips and bones.”
As part of efforts to keep as mobile as possible, Wiktoria completes special exercises four times a week, as well as regularly attending a swimming club and getting out and about on her tricycle.
Visit http://wiktoriafund.org for more information on her story or to donate to the operation fund.
SDR involves cutting of some of the sensory nerve fibres that come from the muscles and enter the spinal cord in a bid to reduce spasticity in the body.
However, the surgery does carry potential risks, including paralysis, sensory loss and loss of bladder or bowel functions.
Although very rare in Britain, the surgery is performed across the US and in European countries including the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.