Leah Ligertwood Appeal - Walking To The Future

This area is the central hub for everything related to the Leah Ligertwood Appeal - Walking To The Future. Over the coming days we will be updating this area with all information for all the fundraising events, ways you can support, get involved, etc. You will also be able to donate directly towards the Leah Appeal (100% of money donated to this appeal will go to Leah).

Over the next few days there will be a lot of information added to this page. Please check back regularly for updates and information on the appeal. In the meantime - any questions, please
contact us

Make your donation here - all proceeds are shown, Gift Aid can be claimed automatically and it's totally secure - you just need to register when you click the link.


A note from Leah's parents: Richie & Nicola.......

Leah Ligertwood is a 2 year and 9 months old little girl from a town called Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland who has been diagnosed with Diplegic Cerebral Palsy. We believe the reason behind Leah’s illness is most probably is due to the fact that she was born at 35 weeks weighing only 4lb 14oz. During her 20 week scan it was explained to us that she had too much fluid on the brain and also cysts.

Diplegic cerebral palsy is slight brain damage. This means that the part of the brain that controls Leah’s muscles receives wrong signals causing Leah to have tightness of muscles in her legs and very little control over them as her muscles are permanently contracted. Therefore this makes it difficult for her to walk .

Currently Leah needs to wear special splints on her legs for around 8 hours a day. This restricts her on a daily basis and it is heartbreaking to watch her get upset when she doesn’t want to put them on and can't do the same as other children.

Unfortunately this is not enough for Leah and we are seeing little improvement. She will only deteriorate in time. Leah is such a happy little girl and her smile brightens our day. Her astonishing ability to face her challenges on a daily basis without losing heart is truly amazing.

After researching potential treatments we have discovered there is an operation that would greatly improve Leah's mobility. This operation is only available in America and the NHS won't fund it or even help!!

The Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) procedure involves cutting the nerves at the bottom of the spine that carry the wrong signals to Leah's legs. This would stop the spasticity in her legs therefore enabling Leah to walk , run , dance and do all the things other children can do. Constantly falling over and the walking aids she uses now would be a thing of the past. Leah would be like any other little girl of her age!

As parents it was heartbreaking to discover Leah had cerebral palsy and to be told there was no cure. To find there is hope in SDR blew us away! As parents, your aim is to give your child the best chances in life and we believe that the SDR operation is the best way for us to do this. Leah is an intelligent, determined and loving little girl that deserves this and every chance of a more normal life. We have set our minds and hearts on this and we will do everything in our power to ensure we achieve our goal.

Our goal is to raise money to enable Leah to undergo the life changing operation that she so needs and deserves. We need to raise £40,000 by Summer 2011 to enable us to go ahead with this process. Can you help? Will you help? Please turn to the back page of this booklet to see how you can help us achieve our dream for Leah