Helena’s Story
Severe Cerebral Palsy and Hypotonia
Helena suffered a loss of blood and consequently oxygen, during her birth due to a ruptured uterus and was brought back to life following an emergency Caesarian by the local hospital emergency care team. The local health authority recognized at an early stage that Helena has suffered brain damage as she couldn’t move and hardly made any sounds. At the age of 2 it was confirmed by brain scans that Helena had wide-spread dissipated brain damage but with a concentration in the lower base of the ganglia, which explained the impairment of motor skills. The impairment, as we discovered later on, was principally associated with stability, speech and fine motor skills. She was given the diagnosis of Severe Cerebral Palsy with hypotona.
Helena began TST just turned 4 years
We were given a press cutting of the Advance Centre by a cousin who lives near East Grinstead and Helena’s first visit when she had just turned 4 years old, and we have been going back the first year every four months and afterward at six monthly intervals. When we met Linda Scotson we were immediately struck not only by her dedication and enthusiasm but by the clarity of her explanations as to why Helena was doing the things she did (or not doing the things she ought!), explaining the complexity of Helena’s condition, and advising what we she should be doing in a simple and concise manner. We were taught some strange gentle pulsating massage routines to be done at home to Helena’s upper body to stimulate blood flow to her internal organs, in particular focused on the diaphragm to improve her breathing.
Marked postural improvement
In the first 12 months we noticed a marked improvement in her posture (her back became much straighter) and normalization in the shape of her rib cage (the lower ribs were not so pronounced).
Improvement mobility and language
The following 12 months saw continued improvement to her back and chest. In the last 12 months her language has developed significantly (she is putting sentences together, albeit very slowly), she is more confident sitting up on her own, and her mobility has improved (the quality of her crawling is better and she “walks” on her knees) to the point where her physiotherapist has lent her some crutches.
She is light years away from where she started life
Helena is nearly 7 years old now and due to her determination and the dedication of her family (her mum, dad, elder sister and 2 elder brothers love her to bits and willingly dedicate a significant amount of their time to her each day) she is light years away from where she started life.