When we met Bella in September 2011 she was just 5 years old and lived with her mum Cathy, dad Greg and big sister Imogen in Aspley, QLD.

This is her story…

“When I was born I had trouble breathing and spent 5 weeks in intensive care.  After that I was able to go home but had so much trouble drinking that just 2 weeks later I was back in hospital – where I spent most of the next 18 months of my life.

It was discovered that I had multiple, and complex, medical issues resulting from a rare chromosomal disorder. Tests discovered that the ventricles in my brain were enlarged and this has left me with an intellectual impairment, low muscle tone, delayed speech and delayed motor skills. I had a feeding tube surgically connected to my tummy so that I could receive nutrition.

Because my condition is so rare I don’t qualify for the government funding that subsidises any of the high costs of my therapy, equipment and aids.

To help me to achieve my potential, mum and dad send me to Conductive Educational Queensland every week where I receive some fantastic Occupational, Speech and Physio Therapies.  They are teaching me to be as independent as possible and are helping me to build my confidence and self-esteem. They also teach my mum and dad to know when to help me and when to step back and let me make my own mistakes and celebrate my achievements.

The program is improving my health and well-being. It’s improving my quality of life.

I’d really like to continue my therapies but the cost is getting difficult to manage on top of the cost of all my other medical treatments and all the special pieces of disability aids and equipment that I need too.”

Here at IGAB we were only too pleased to be able to launch an appeal to raise enough funding for Bella to receive her therapies until the end of 2012 – that was $4,600 worth.

With the wonderful generosity of this terrific community, and a whopping $2,400 contribution from the Brisbane Broncos Charities Fund, we were able to complete Bella’s Appeal in Nov 2011.

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.