Elise’s Story

Elise is my happy and bubbly 15 year old girl whose life has been affected by a condition called Friedreich's Ataxia. This is a quite rare hereditary disease and is degenerative. Elise was diagnosed at the age of 6 and since then, this disease has damaged her nervous system making it really difficult to control her muscles. It also causes other symptoms including heart disease cardiomyopathy. Elise's coordination, balance and speech have already been greatly affected. There is no cure for this disease but there is an intensive treatment available in Cuba which will help strengthen her muscles, potentially enabling Elise to stay out of a wheelchair for a few years longer and increase her life expectancy, hopefully for long enough to see a cure become available. Elise will undergo therapy for 9 hours in the day, 7 days a week during an 8 week period and whilst this therapy is thought to be extremely painful, it will help prevent more serious effects such as paralysis and will correct her feet into the correct position.

The cost of this treatment programme is approximately £10,000 including travel and accommodation for Elise and me. We are actively fundraising together with friends to achieve the target and enable us to commit Elise for the treatment. Any donations, of any amount, will be extremely appreciated and life changing for my daughter and our family. We will keep you in touch every step of the way, thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Mari Vic Gomez