Charlotte's mum kicks off special bath appeal

THE mother of a severely disabled girl who can suffer up to 50 seizures a day is launching a major fundraising drive to buy her daughter a specialist hydrotherapy bath which costs £15,000.

Four-year-old Charlotte Farrell is blind and has severe epilepsy which causes her to stop breathing and means she needs round-the-clock care.

Her mum Susan is trying to raise the cash to buy a hydrotherapy bath as she believes it will help her daughter.

As the specialist bath comes with padding inside, Miss Farrell also says it is safer for her daughter when she suffers seizures.

However,the bath comes with a massive price tag and Miss Farrell needs help to raise the funds needed.

She said: "She really needs a bath as she loves to be submerged and because she has so many seizures it works as a muscle relaxant and aids her therapy.

"Charlotte can have up to 50 seizures a day, including seizures where she stops breathing.

"Charlotte is never left alone because of her seizure pattern - one minute she is OK, the next minute she stops breathing."

Miss Farrell, 36, who nearly lost her daughter twice earlier this year when she contracted a chest infection and had to spend eight weeks in the Sick Kids Hospital, is building an extension to her home in The Inch to give Charlotte a bigger bedroom and new bathroom.

She has been able to get funding for the work, but specialist equipment such as the bath is not covered.

She added: "Anything special needs is just a licence to print money because it's all so expensive."

Charlotte, who attends the nursery at Oaklands Special School, was born with a rare brain condition called primary microcephaly.

Although she has still not had a proper diagnosis, she has a numerous complications on top of the epilepsy, including hearing problems, scoliosis - an abnormal curvature of the spine to one side - and global developmental delay, a condition which limits basic development skills.

Miss Farrell spoke out earlier this year on the impact of cutting budgets at schools for children with special needs.

She warned at the time that any cuts could mean the difference between life and death and special schools could not afford to lose staff or equipment.

A fundraising coffee morning will be held at St Gregory's Church in Walter Scott Avenue, The Inch, tomorrow from 10.30am to 2.30pm.

Miss Farrell has also set up a group, 'Fundraise for Charlotte Farrell's Hydrotherapy Bath' on Facebook.