Georgia likes dancing and socialising, doing all the things that 13-year-olds like to do. But a condition called juvenile idiopathic arthritis means her joints often ache and leave her in pain.
In 2012/13, thanks to your donations, we funded the Children’s Hospital’s hydrotherapy pool at the Ryegate Centre in Sheffield.
The pool provides a vital rehabilitation tool and sensory experience for children seen by the therapy team and is used in the treatment of many different conditions.
Thanks to regular swimming sessions, Georgia can now build her strength and keep active, without putting too much pressure on her joints.
Oliver Ward, physiotherapist at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, said: “We find that our patients are able to exercise more rigorously in the pool than on land, which helps them avoid secondary problems such as weight gain, weakness and loss of cardiovascular fitness which risk future arthritis flares.”
