Content of the support: to help pay for the physiotherapy Miina needs.
Amount of the support: EUR 4420 per support period.
Duration of support: September 2023 – October 2024*.
* In general, the Children’s Foundation will extend the support at the end of the support period on the basis of need.
Indroduction
Miina (2020) is a little girl who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy subtype 1, or SMA I, when she was about 2.5 months old. The disease is caused by a genetic defect that, if left untreated, leads to paralysis of the body and respiratory muscles.
As a result of the disease, Miina has a deficit in age-appropriate motor skills and some self-help skills, such as not having the strength in her hands to hold a cup or wave independently. Physiotherapy is essential to develop the child’s age-appropriate motor skills (including gait training and maintaining joint mobility) and to achieve maximum motor ability.
Miina’s motor skills have improved dramatically with continued therapy – she can sit independently and hold her head while playing with her peers. However, she is not yet able to move into fully independent positions. The child uses the wheelchair and is able to steer it herself. The aim of the physiotherapy is to improve her postural balance. This will hopefully help Miina to walk shorter distances on her own in the future.
The Children’s Foundation, with the help of generous donors, will support Miina’s physiotherapy to the tune of €4420 over the course of the support period. The family will pay 10% of the total cost of the therapy.
The Children’s Foundation has been supporting Miina since September 2022.