A RADSTOCK family are trying to raise £5,000 for specialist therapy sessions to ensure their two-year-old daughter is not “left behind and set up for failure”.

Leah Davies, who will turn three in February, is non-verbal and cannot walk. The challenges she faces include global developmental delay in all areas, as well as sensory processing issues, hypertonia, over flexibility and a shorter left leg.

Leah’s parents Stella and Andrew Davies are still waiting for medical tests and genetic testing to confirm Leah’s condition. But in the meantime they are looking to give Leah specialist therapy sessions to help her development.

The couple are aiming to raise £5,000 and a Go Fund Me page has been launched - with donations already flooding in.

Stella, 40, said the family were determined to give Leah the best treatment they can, and have already taken Leah to daily sessions in Malta, thanks to help from family members in Malta.

Stella said: “No therapy is available on the NHS and the cost of private therapies is just unaffordable. Children like my daughter are left behind and set up for failure.”

The family are raising money to “give Leah a fair chance in life and to enable her to live a normal life, and not face isolation in future”.

Stella added: “I have now set up a fundraising page for her to enable me to take her away for the whole summer and provide her with occupational health therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy. I’m doing it to give her a fair chance in life and to enable her to live a normal life, and not face isolation in future.

“Without access to services Leah is set up for being behind in all developmental areas.

“She is left without a chance to have access to mainstream school, normal services and opportunities that are available to her peers. She is also facing a world with no communication skills, no sensory integration and no means to move from place to place independently. She faces being misunderstood and isolated.

“I want to give her a chance and the tools to move, communicate and enjoy the world around her.”

After finding a charity that offers therapy sessions in Malta, Stella said being able to attend the charity thanks to assistance from family in Malta had helped make a difference to Leah.

She said: “We were lucky to get an amazing occupational therapist called Yolanda. The sessions made a real difference to our daughter.”

Leah receives treatment in Malta from therapist Yolanda.
Leah receives treatment in Malta from therapist Yolanda. (Stella Davies )

But Stella said the family are also looking at options in the UK, including a therapy centre, however that assistance is not funded by the NHS and costs almost £7,000 for a 12-month course.

The Davies family are also facing having to potentially make significant house adaptions to help Leah, and are also hoping they could provide a sensory room. Stella said any assistance would make a huge difference to the family and would be massively appreciated. She said: “A massive thank you from the bottom of our hearts if you are kind enough to donate. Any amount would really help Leah to get the very best care and treatment that she needs and deserves.”

The family’s Go Fund Me page is available at: www.gofundme.com/f/fair-chance-in-life-for-leah.

The family can also be followed on the blog at: www.littlesteps.blog.