Fundraisers buy Fraser's computer

A DISABLED teenager has been handed a late birthday present that could dramatically improve his quality of life.

Fraser Imrie, 18, requires 24-hour care after being struck down by the potentially lethal E.Coli bug as a three-year-old, leaving him with permanent brain damage.

After months of fundraising by neighbours, friends and relatives, Fraser has now been given a 16,000 eye-operated computer that will help him become more self-reliant.

The gadget is called an Eye Gaze and allows people with physical disabilities to do many things with their eyes that they would otherwise do with their hands. Simply by looking at control keys displayed on a computer monitor, Fraser can speak, send e-mails, browse the internet, and even play games. Mum Fiona, who gave up her job as a dentist to become a full-time carer for Fraser, said the new technology would grant her son greater freedom.

"He will be able to do things he has not been able to do before like access websites and send text messages," she said.

Fraser previously used the technology at school but had to give up the gadget when he left earlier this year.

"It's a fantastic late birthday present, it's just amazing," said Fiona, who receives support from her husband Frank, 55, and their children Lachlan, 11, and nine-year-old Iona. "It is a (more advanced] model than the one he had at school because it's small and portable. It also runs off batteries rather than the mains."

Having finished his studies at North Berwick High School, Fraser has now enrolled in a horticultural course at the Royal Botanic Gardens and much of the curriculum will be inputted on to the Eye Gaze.

Fiona hailed the efforts of the fundraising team. "The donations from the people of North Berwick to firstly buy Fraser a wheelchair and now the Eye Gaze shows what a caring community we have here," she said.

But none of it would have happened, she added, without the diligence and commitment of chief fundraiser Katy Muir - Fraser's former full-time carer.

When Fraser was born he spent three months battling for his life in Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children.

He still wears a special Lycra suit costing 1500 to develop his bone structure and improve posture.

Every morning carers assist Mrs Imrie to help her son get into his suit, which can take up to 15 minutes to get on. He must also be turned three or four times during the a night.

In 1996, the family and residents in North Berwick launched The Fraser Imrie Trust Fund which managed to raise cash to buy his specialist suit, electric wheelchair and now the Eye Gaze.