Colchester four-year-old features in children's charity video

Emmie Gizatullin

Submitted by Tree of Hope

A four-year-old girl from Colchester, in Essex, has featured in a short video to celebrate 30 years of Tree of Hope, a charity that supports children and young people with a disability or illness.

Emmie Gizatullin has a rare form of skeletal dysplasia, a condition which only one in a million people in the world live with.

She is the size of a nine-month-old, has a cleft palate and club feet, is non-verbal and wears hearing aids and strong glasses.

Despite this, she is a happy girl who communicates by signing and using a communication device, she loves to sing and enjoys using her wheelchair.

Last year, Emmie’s family were devastated to learn that her condition has become inoperable and she is unlikely to live past her 10^th birthday.

Emmie’s mum, Hannah, dad, Marat, and brother, Adam, have been fundraising to give Emmie the best quality of life possible by making adaptations to their house to accommodate her needs.

They have been supported by Tree of Hope, a charity that helps families fundraise for children with healthcare needs.

Tree of Hope provides charity status to benefit from gift aid and corporate support whilst also providing donor reassurance.

Emmie and Hannah feature in one of three short videos which have been released to celebrate 30 years of the charity helping children all over the country.

Hannah said: "We don’t know everything that we are going to need for Emmie in the future but we want to be prepared.

"Right now we would really like to make it possible for her to get in and out of the garden and be able to move around it so that she can play.

"She needs private physiotherapy and hydrotherapy to help with her joint pain and to help her move better.

"Without the surgeries which are considered too dangerous by her medical team, she will likely lose use of her limbs and potentially also her sight.

"Our main focus is raising money to adapt our house to include a lift, adapted bathroom and a room big enough for her specialist bed."

The family has already raised more than £15,000 of their £50,000 target, thanks to support from their friends and the local community, especially the Bluebells pre-school in West Bergholt where Emmie attended.

Hannah added: "It means so much to us to have the support of so many people. Every penny will help us to help Emmie make the most of the precious time she has."

Gill Gibb, Tree of Hope CEO, said: "It’s great to see Emmie’s family have so much support and we wish them all the best with their fundraising."

To donate to Emmie’s fund, visit here.

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