Sheffield's teenager's £5,000 wheelchair appeal after NHS funding runs out
The difference is between an independent life and “being in so much pain she has to go home”
A disabled Sheffield teenager is asking for help to buy a life-changing seat for her electric wheelchair worth £5,000.
Evie Crowston, aged 19, from Southey, says she is out of options to fund the essential kit so an omnline fundraier is her only option.
She said the difference between the correct seat and an ill-fitting one is the difference between an independent lifestyle and “being in so much pain and practically falling out of her chair” to the point she has to go home.
Now, with no grants or NHS options left after exhausting them previously, she is asking for help to raise £5,000 for a fully-supported seat so she can live a full life.
Her GoFundMe page reads: “I live a full life, attend college, have an amazing boyfriend, friends and family and am involved in lots of things.
“My power wheelchair has already given me so so much independence and will continue to do so once it’s set up fully for me.
“My family and friends have already helped out with many things in my 19 years of life... I feel incredibly guilty asking for help again but people have helped me realise I desperately need and deserve this.
“Until the pain gets really bad, in my power chair I feel free. As free as I’m going to feel, in my daily life, as I felt before I lost the ability to walk. I love being able to ‘walk’ with my family and friends and control where I am going, hold hands with my boyfriend, go really fast in open spaces and spin around to regulate myself or when I am bored!”
She has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is a genetic connective tissue disorder that causes problems with joints, ligaments and organs.
Namely, Evie says her joints can partially dislocate several times a day, and she lives with chronic pain, fatigue, and seizures.
Currently, the student says she has the choice between a manual wheelchair with the correct seat but one she cannot move herself, and the ill-fitting electric wheelchair which causes severe pain.
She previously qualified for a funded NHS-provided electric wheelchair but also found it painful to use, and also received help for her manual wheelchair - meaning she cannot ask for help funding the correct seat for several years.
To learn more or donate to Evie’s appeal, visit her GoFundMe page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/evies-powerchair-seating-support