“My name is Aoife. I am 15 years old. I want to tell you about how Sheffield Children’s has supported me and how they need your help to build an incredibly exciting new research and technology centre at the Olympic Legacy Park in South Yorkshire.
“I was born prematurely as one of two surviving triplets. Because of this, I have two health conditions – chronic lung disease (also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), which affects my breathing, and cerebral palsy, which mainly affects my legs and means I can’t always walk independently.
“When I was younger, I was able to walk with my sticks and used my wheelchair for longer distances, but as I grew up, I became stuck in a flexed position that started to make walking quite difficult.
“I have fond memories of the playgroup and therapy rooms at Ryegate Children’s Centre, which is a part of Sheffield Children’s and supports young people with a range of complex neurological disorders.
“The people there are so friendly. I love the hydrotherapy pool and wish I could go there more often.”
How Aoife is learning to walk again
An incredible state-of-the-art facility available at the Ryegate Children’s Centre is the Gait Analysis Laboratory. Sheffield Children’s are one of the few NHS Trusts to offer this service and its technology – helping young people improve their walking.
Aoife said: “I have visited the Gait Lab twice, and the first time was in February 2021. I came here so they could measure and analyse my walking to determine what treatment I could have to help with my mobility. They used specialist equipment to look at how I move my legs and feet and how that impacts my joints when I walk.
“This laboratory uses advanced technology, helping hospital staff to decide what treatment is best.
“Following this, I was offered orthopaedic surgery on my legs.
“I was very nervous about the surgery because I didn’t know how I would feel afterwards and was worried about the pain. I had it in October 2022; now I can straighten my legs, and I’m currently learning to walk again with the help of special braces and a walker.”
Aoife has continued to visit the Gait Lab again for monitoring, and she is making great progress. The care Aoife received at the Gait Lab is possible because of exciting technologies being used in children’s healthcare.
“Sheffield Children’s has saved my life on more than one occasion, and I wouldn’t be here without them.” - Aoife
Aoife said: “But why am I telling you about all this? It’s because Sheffield Children’s are building the National Centre for Child Health Technology at the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park, and Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity needs your help to raise £2 million towards its build.
“This is very exciting because, at this new centre, they will be doing research and creating new technology that will help to solve some of the biggest challenges in children’s healthcare. They will have state-of-the-art facilities, and some of Sheffield Children’s clinical care, like the assessments I’ve had at the Gait Lab, will be moving there.
“Technology is so important in children’s healthcare. It helps doctors diagnose what’s wrong, determines what treatment can be provided, helps keep lots of specialists up to date with everything they need to know about a patient’s care, and so much more!
“Without the technology they have at the Gait Lab, it would have been much harder to decide on the right treatment for me. It would also have been incredibly difficult to record and monitor any progress with my walking before and after surgery. My care and my life now would be very different if technology hadn’t played such a big part in my treatment.
“So today, I’m inviting you to donate to Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity to help them contribute towards the build of the new technology centre.
“Lots of children rely on the hospital to make them better and this new technology centre will help them provide the best care possible for children and young people today and in the future.
“Please donate today to help more children like me, selecting ‘National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT)’ to make sure it goes to the right place.
“Every donation is important and can make a big difference, so anything you can spare will be much appreciated.
“Thank you for reading my story and thank you so much for supporting Sheffield Children’s.”
