Support brave little fighter Amy through Help the Children charity project and ČEZ SkiTour
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Wondering what this one-year-old girl could possibly have in common with the participants of cross-country skiing races? It’s that little Amy is a warrior at heart and has never given up, just like you never give up on the white trails and mountain climbs. She was born healthy, but two months later, everything changed. Amy’s health suddenly deteriorated, she had to be resuscitated and the doctors’ prognosis was just 24 hours to live. In spite of all this, the little fighter didn’t give up. Unfortunately, her struggle was not without consequences and the one-year-old girl is at the developmental level of a 6-month-old baby. The situation now calls for specialised therapies to help with her development. Together with the Help the Children Foundation, let's help Amelia get her chance at a better childhood and life, just select the amount you want to donate when registering in your SportID account.
Amy is one year old today. She was born five days after her due date to her happy parents and older sister Lili. During the first two months of her life she was a healthy baby. It all started when Amy lost her appetite. After she started to vomit, her parents took her to the A&E where doctors discovered she had unspecified inflammation in her body and stabilised her by administering a drip with liquids and glucose to prevent dehydration. Her swollen eye got better after drops and Amy’s condition was explained as the result of a bug her older sister Lili had brought home from the kindergarten. A week later Amelie regained her appetite and everything seemed fine, so she and her mum were released from hospital and went back home.
Two days later. An inconsolable crying fit. Unconsciousness. No breathing. Resuscitation of the little girl. An ambulance drove Amy back to the hospital where she fought for her life for ten days in artificially induced sleep. The doctors’ prognosis was nowhere near optimistic. They didn’t expect Amelie to survive more than 24 hours, still she didn’t give up, she proved she had will power and won her life back. Waking up from artificial sleep went okay, but after being transferred from the ICU to the neurology department, Amy was diagnosed with a massive brain haemorrhage and an extensive damage to both hemispheres of her brain. The precise cause of the haemorrhage was never determined. As a result of the brain damage, Amy now suffers from epilepsy, she is hypertonic with prominent right side (all muscles on all her limbs are tense) and she has central brain damage, so Amy’s eyes didn’t work properly after waking up.
Little Amy loves to fool around with her older sister Lili and this motivates her to exercise and train her eyes with special aids, to do regular exercises using Vojta’s method and there is a consultant from the EDA Special Pedagogy Centre who regularly comes to help the family. Amy has now started with neurorehabilitation, but the sessions are not covered by health insurance and they are very expensive. At the moment she receives two to three therapies a week, but if she is doing well, their length and frequency could increase. The increase in frequency would mean the cost would grow too. One hour of neurorehabilitation and ergotherapy now costs 1200 CZK, in total the therapy costs approximately 240 thousand Czech crowns for six months.
Whether you are a skier or a fan of snow and the mountains, help us help Amelie to enjoy fooling around with her family and have a happy childhood. If the therapy and rehab can help the little fighter to move a little bit forward, they are worth it! You can contribute towards Amy’s therapy sessions during registration for the ČEZ SkiTour and the 56th edition of ČEZ Jizerská 50 in your SportID account.
Amy, we keep our fingers crossed for you and keep laughing.