'We want to give Odie the chance to reach the potential we see in her every day'

Her name is Odette but friends and family know her simply as Odie, a bubbly, bright, five-year-old from Drogheda who has spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. 

This condition affects body movement, muscle control, muscle co-ordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture and balance. Although it is a permanent life-long condition, some of these signs can improve or worsen over time. 
Now Odie's family, with the help of the wider community, aim to generate the €100,000 needed to help the brave youngster better counteract the condition and deal with the many challenges she faces. The problem is that treatment is very expensive with a lengthy trip to the USA for specialised treatment part of the process.
“We want to give Odie every opportunity to reach the amazing potential we see in her every single day," commented Odie's dad David. “She is a bright sweet five-year-old girl who loves nothing more than to watch JoJo Siwa videos and practice all her physiotherapy moves so she can one day be a famous dancer. 
“We know that SDR will change her life and we still need to raise €30,000 to make sure we can get Odie all the care and help she needs. We’ve been so lucky to reach €70,000 but things have slowed down a lot since Christmas and we’re really hoping we can make it over this final hurdle.”
The Midwifery teams at DkIT (where Odie’s mother, Joan Devin was recently a student) and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda have joined forces to organise a fundraising drive.
At the moment Odie is unable to walk without the assistance of her walker and cannot stand unsupported. At home she crawls on the floor or is carried. Her balance is poor and she needs assistance with all the normal daily activities. 
The spasticity, or tightness, in her legs can be very painful, and she does daily physiotherapy and stretching to try and reduce this. Odie also needs to wear leg splints to try and keep her muscles stretched into normal positions during the day. 
In time, the spasticity in Odie's legs will increase, which means that her pain may also increase. There is also the possibility she will lose the ability to use her walker and will need a wheelchair.
However, there is now a window of opportunity to help Odie! World-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr T. S. Park of St Louis Childrens' Hospital in Missouri, USA has evaluated Odie and considers her to be a candidate for selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) surgery. This amazing, life-changing surgery involved the cutting of nerves in the spine which connect the brain to the muscles in the legs in order to permanently reduce the tightness and pain, and allow the movement required for walking. 
It is not preformed in Ireland, and the HSE do not routinely fund this through the Hospital Treatment Abroad scheme.
In order to give Odie this chance, Joan and her family are attempting to raise the €100,000 required to cover the cost of the operation, therapy requirements, follow-up treatments and travel to and from the US. This is obviously a huge challenge for Joan and although close to €70,000 has already been raised, Joan's midwifery colleagues really want to increase this figure. The organisers sincerely thank all those who have supported the 'Odie Wants to Walk' project in anyway. 
All information about Odie’s cause and the medical interventions that she needs can be found at www.gofundme.com/odie-wants-to-walk.