Keira is a happy, chirpy little girl who loves to have adventures, climb and run–all the things doctors never thought she’d be able to do.
Keira was affected by a virus before she was born, called CMV, or Cytomegalovirus, which impacted her brain development. She is also profoundly deaf with two cochlear implants.
Keira’s parents spent the first two years of her life not knowing if she would ever walk or achieve any of her goals.
Mum Danie shares, “She only learned to walk when she turned three, and we’d been doing physio since she was six months old–and one day we were doing our practicing, as we always do, and she just walked. We went, oh my God! She’s doing it, it was awesome.”
Danie adds, “That was the day she ran…and ran…and RAN!”
Little Keira quickly turned into an energetic adventurer–and it became difficult for the family to go on holiday and keep her safe. “She was an escapee,” Danie says. “She could get out of anything.”
“We found this safety sleeper bed that was completely enclosed. She couldn’t get out of it, and she was safe, but we couldn’t get it through NDIS,” Danie explains.
The safety sleeper was overseas, and with nothing available locally, the family found Variety Queensland and applied.
“And it has been a game-changer,” Danie says. “We can now go anywhere. Christmas holidays, weekends away. They really are great.”
Dad Jack adds, “The NDIS is a great program, but there are gaps–to have a charity like Variety fill in those gaps is just amazing.”
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Variety has positively impacted more than two million children and their families – supporting children by providing funding for mobility equipment, therapy, medical services, educational resources, and more.