Weekly News Update 10

This week, my story comes from the Daily Mail. The article tells the story of 5 year old Ava Bainbridge from Gateshead who, when she was 14 months old, was suddenly struck down by the deadly infection meningitis. Within the space of a few hours, spots began to develop on Ava's body and soon after she was covered in head to toe. Within 2 hours she was on a ventilator and spent 10 gruelling days fighting for her life before a big operation took place, this is involved surgeons amputating half of Ava’s right foot and the toes of her left foot, and Ava’s mum and dad, Gemma and Kenneth were told this type of operation had never been performed on someone of Ava’s age before. Her mother, Gemma Day said to the daily mail “We had no idea what was going on, we didn’t even know if she was going to pull through because things weren’t getting better .Ava had part of both feet amputated, and due to the severity of the disease, these parts had to be amputated, meaning a frail and weak Ava was left with no hope of being able to walk, or even dance which was her favourite thing to do.

When Ava and her parents left to go home after 6 months of recovery at the hospital, doctors gave Ava blocks to put in her shoes, but this gave Ava pain and discomfort. This is where experts at the Dorset Orthopaedic prosthetics firm came in, who created a pair of silicone slippers with toes on the end. The slippers cost £900 and are put in Ava’s shoes so she can walk properly. Gemma said “It’s the most incredible thing that has happened to us, they are so fantastic and so life like, but more importantly they give her the chance to do the things that doctors said she couldn’t”. Ava’s bravery and determination was recognised with a Bravehearts North East award.

I found this story very endearing and inspiring, because nowadays there are news stories and articles about older men and woman who have prosthetic limbs and are able to compete in marathons and elite competitions. But we forget about the courageous young children who have to grow up learning to live without limbs and for this little girl to be so brave and determined is something that i believe should be recognised.