Plea for Bromsgrove to offer Hope for Georgia

Buy photos » Natalie Naughton with her daughter Georgia. Picture by Marcus Mingins 3712010MMR

A CAMPAIGN has been launched in a bid to raise £20,000 so a Bromsgrove toddler with Cerebral Palsy can have pioneering treatment in America to enable her to walk.

Hope for Georgia has been started for Georgia Almquest who is two next month and whose condition means she has spactisity in all four of her limbs, preventing her from being able to hold her head up, sit, or crawl.

Doctors have said it is unlikely Georgia would ever be able to walk, but hope has been provided for her and her parents Natalie Naughton and Dan Almquest by fetal stem cell therapy which is available across the Atlantic.

That sees stem cells inserted to repair damaged or dead cells in the brain or other parts of the body.

As well as giving Georgia a better quality of life, it is thought to be the only hope she has of walking.

The treatment is not currently available in the UK, but can be done in America.

Mum Natalie has held a consultation about Georgia’s condition and treatment and £1,950 of the £20,000 has been raised so far.

Natalie told The Standard: “Georgia is a really happy little girl who loves music and playing.

“She is really interactive with us and everyone she meets, it’s just her physical difficulties she struggles with.

“We look at her and know that the stem cell treatment is her only hope.

“We want to appeal to anyone who can help in any way to get in touch.”

A host of fund-raising events have already been organised for the cause.

Among them are a fun day at the Sugarbrook pub on September 29, a midnight walk from McDonald’s in Wychbold to the Casle Nursery and back again on October 5 and a fun night at the Austin Sports and Social Club on October 26.

On Georgia’s second birthday, on October 13, there will be a Golf Day at Ravenmeadow Golf Club in Claines in Worcester. That will feature a nine-hole competition, food, a bar and a prize-giving, before a birthday party for Georgia.

Other events organised include a fancy dress party, a poker tournament and a bag-packing day.

And a fund-raising auction is also being held. A number of lots have already been donated for that, including a signed poster of Ricky Hatton, a signed poster of Aston Villa star Gabriel Agbonlahor, Jimmy Choo matching shoes and handbag, paintings by Terry Fuller, a ladies’ bike and a two-hour tattoo sitting with Crazy Monkey.

But it is hoped companies and organisations will come forward with more lots.

For more on the campaign, to donate funds or a lot for the auction or to organise an event, type Hope for Georgia into Facebook, visit http://www.justgiving.com/HOPE-FOR-GEORGIA or call Natalie on 07407 672443.

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