Tauranga community helps raise funds for boy with cerebral palsy

Tauranga residents have helped raise enough funds to send a local boy with cerebral palsy to Australia for much-needed treatment.

Shaye and Shaun Wotherspoon have been fundraising to pay for their 8-year-old son Cullen to have an Australian-based therapy which is not funded in New Zealand.

More than 440 tickets worth $20 each were sold in a jet ski raffle which helped raise enough to fly to Australia for the first session of Therasuit therapy in Adelaide.

"We have raised enough money to pay for Cullen's next intensive therapy. It has blown us away, and we can't thank you enough," Shaye Wotherspoon said.

"We just want to say a big thank you to everyone, this is amazing."

Cullen's condition meant he could not walk, talk, sit or feed himself.

He started Therasuit therapy in Auckland about six months ago after seven years of another therapy that Shaye said was not working.

Shaye noticed immediate results in Cullen who was now able to sit for as long as three minutes and could stand on his power plate for the first time.

But it cost $11,000 for the Therasuit clinics in Auckland on each visit which the family would have to fund themselves.

The cost to go to Adelaide for the therapy would cost $15,000.

Sean Joyce from Action Sports Direct offered a 2017 Sea-Doo jet ski and trailer worth $11,600 to raffle off to help cover the cost of Cullen's therapy in Australia.

"We are happy to be able to help," Joyce said.

Cullen grinned from ear to ear when the winner of the jet ski was announced on his eighth birthday on June 6.

What is suit therapy?

Intensive suit therapy provides a child proper posture, muscle tone and patterns of movement impaired by disability.
It's a complex intervention made of an orthotic suit that has strategically-placed bungee cords adjusted in a manner to affect typical flexor and extensor muscle groups.
The entire suit acts as a soft exoskeleton that corrects abnormal muscle tone and re-trains a person's brain to recognise correct muscle movements.

Source: www.cerebralpalsy.org

What is the TheraSuit method?

- TheraSuit Method was created by Izabela and Richard Koscielny (physical therapists and parents of a daughter with cerebral palsy).
It is a very holistic approach for those afflicted with neurological disorders like cerebral palsy, developmental delays, and traumatic brain injuries.
Source: www.suittherapy.com