Every little helps
We love making games for a living and we’re very lucky. And we make a bit of money and with some of that profit, we try and help local charities or individuals, its one of the 10 reasons to work at Neon Play
Last year, we gave an iPad to a fantastic Cirencester-based special needs school called Paternoster School and this year, we have decided to help a sweet little girl called Esme.
Introducing Esme
Esme was born at 29.5 weeks which was a lot earlier than planned and very stressful for her parents. She spent the next 10 weeks in Special Care which was a complete roller coaster of emotions for us the family. The first two weeks she did well, but then she got an infection in her intestine, and things were touch and go. With amazing care from the staff, she fought it off and it looked like she was home and dry.
But then her parents were told that a head scan had revealed Esme had suffered brain damage and it was going to affect her mobility. After a lot of discussion with doctors and health professionals, her parents have learned a lot more about Esme’s condition and how it affects thousands of others like her.
Esme's condition
Esme suffers from Cerebral Palsy, although this is a very broad term and can affect people in many different ways. Esme has spastic diplegia, which means she can’t walk unaided, can’t easily sit without falling over or move position unassisted. This is because the muscles in her legs spasm when she tries to make them work, so it’s difficult for her to control them. She works hard everyday doing physiotherapy to help her build strength and hopefully increase her mobility.
Aside from these affects Esme is a normal 3 and half year old and one who excels in a number of areas – like talking (non-stop), asking for ice creams and sweets, and telling her friends at pre-school which toys to bring over!
The operation
The opportunity is for Esme to have an operation called SDR (Selective Doral Rizotomy) which will hopefully give her the ability to control her leg muscles a lot more, and move more independently. The surgeon suggests she may eventually walk with sticks.
But it’s not a cheap operation and it involves going over to the USA, so Esme’s parents have had to raise £50,000 to fund the operation and the post-op physiotherapy.
Doing our bit
Neon Play has been delighted to donate £1,000 to Esme’s fund and the grand total has since been reached and Esme is going next week to America for the big operation.
We wish Esme, and her Mum Alison and Dad Laith all the best with the operation and can’t wait to see Esme back in our studio, playing with our Teletubbies and giggling away.
If you would like to donate to Esme’s fund or find out more, please go to her website.
Quotes
Oli Christie, CEO of Neon Play commented, “We are totally delighted to be able to help contribute to Esme’s operation and having seen her grow up from a young baby to a smiling, happy girl, we hope with all our hearts that it’s a big success.”
