A MOTHER is asking for help to reach a £5,000 target to fund treatment and equipment for her disabled daughter.

Diane Latham, from Southmoor near Abingdon, will use half the money to pay for improvements to make her house and car more disability friendly and the rest on physiotherapy.

Her five-year-old daughter Skye, who attends Springfield Special Needs School in Witney, was born almost two months premature at 29 weeks.

She was in hospital for the first seven weeks of her life before she could come home.

Being born so prematurely resulted in her developing cerebral palsy diplegia and global development delay, which mean she has trouble walking and takes longer than other children her age to learn new things.

Ms Latham said: “Things were wrong right from the start but the doctors didn’t want to diagnose her until she missed key milestones.

“It was clear she wasn’t progressing the way she should be and it wasn’t until she was two-and-a-half or three years old that she could hold her head up on her own.”

The 32-year-old added: “She can’t put her full weight on her legs and uses a Kaye Walker to get around at school but finds it easier to crawl at home.

“At the moment I have to carry her to her cot for bed. As she is getting older and bigger it’s getting harder to carry her. I’m only a little thing myself so we need to do something before she gets any older.

“Having a special cot would mean she would be able to pull herself into bed and wouldn’t have to rely on me to do it anymore.”

The nursery worker said the money was being raised via national charity Just4Children who will then release it to pay for the equipment and physiotherapy.

She explained: “Once we get to £2,500 they’ll let me take that to pay for either of them so we don’t have to wait until it is all there before Skye can see the benefits.

“Both will have a massive impact on her life, not only letting her have more independence at home but also developing the strength in her legs.”

The physiotherapy treatment at the Footsteps Foundation is intensive physical therapy for babies and children up to the age of 18 who are affected by conditions including cerebral palsy, neurological disorders, genetic disorders, epilepsy, stroke, meningitis and global delays.

The Footsteps therapy programme combines traditional mat exercises with the use of a specialist piece of equipment called the ‘Spider’ and is individually tailored to the diverse needs of each child.

The ‘Spider’ is a series of elastic ropes attached to an open frame which creates a ‘spider’s web, holding each child in their perfect postural position and enabling them to practise balancing, crawling, kneeling and standing positions, whilst concentrating on essential movements such as supporting, reaching, grasping and holding.

Ms Latham said: “It’s brilliant and has great results but it is also very expensive as is the specialist equipment and I just can’t afford it on my own.”

So far almost £500 has been raised. To donate visit just4children.org/children-helped2018/reach-for-the-skye/