A woman is learning to take her first steps in a decade after a mystery donor gave her £37,000 to pay for an operation in the US to treat her cerebral palsy.
Jade Owen, 20, needed to raise £60,000 to pay for life-changing spinal surgery after relying on a wheelchair since she was 11 years old.
And she was able to make her dream come true when a mysterious, unknown contributor gave a whopping £37,000 to her fund.
The generous donation meant Ms Owen could fly across the Atlantic to have nerve surgery called a selective dorsal rhizotomy, which is not available on the NHS.
Now, since returning, she has been able to walk without assistance and can sit up without support, which she says is a ‘massive step’.
Back in her hometown of Bridgend in the south of Wales, Ms Owen says she will begin modelling and following her passion for musical theatre.
Jade Owen, 20, from Bridgend in Wales, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was six years old and has relied on a wheelchair to get around since she was aged 11
Ms Owen was born eight weeks premature in 2007 after her mother, Jane, suffered from eclampsia – high blood pressure during pregnancy.
The troubled pregnancy meant the blood supply to Ms Owen’s brain was interrupted.
Her development was slow and she didn’t learn to walk until she was two, so her worried parents took her to a doctor and physiotherapist.
It wasn’t until Ms Owen was six years old that she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, an incurable condition which affects muscle movement and co-ordination.
She began using a wheelchair when she was eight years old, and became reliant on it to get around from the age of 11.
But following a successful fundraiser in which somebody – the family still don’t know who – donated £37,000, Ms Owen travelled to St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri for a life-changing operation.
She said: ‘I feel amazing. I’m still in shock about it. I keep thinking this is a dream.
Thanks to a massive £37,000 donation from a stranger – Ms Owen and her family don’t know who donated the money – the 20-year-old was able to travel to Missouri in the US for spinal surgery
Ms Owen, pictured with one of her doctors at St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri, can now stand and walk unassisted for the first time since she was a child
‘I wish I could meet the person who donated. I’m just so grateful and thankful. If they didn’t donate, I don’t think I would ever make it.’
Her age and the severity of her condition meant Ms Owen could not recieve the treatment – a selective dorsal rhizotomy – on the NHS.
The operation is done to reduce spasticity (muscle stiffness) which is a common symptom and one of the most disabling aspects of cerebral palsy.
Selective dorsal rhizotomy works by dividing nerve fibres in the spine in order to relax to muscles.
Ms Owen, who also has learning difficulties and epilepsy, is an ambassador for a charity called Follow Your Dreams, which works with young people with learning disabilities.
Ms Owen, enjoys singing and is an ambassador for a charity called Follow Your Dreams which works with children and young people who have learning difficulties
Ms Owen said she is ‘so grateful and thankful’ for the huge £37,000 donation towards her surgery and said she was worried she would never be able to afford it if the anonymous donor had not stumped up so much money
Ms Owen says she hopes to pursue her passion of musical theatre, to do modelling, and to help other young people in similar situations as she found herself when she was fundraising for the surgery
Her life has been transformed by her operation and the kindness of the unknown stranger, and she says she now wants to help others in similar situations.
Ms Owen said: ‘Being able to sit without falling over is amazing. I used to sit with loads of pillows around me and now there’s just one – that’s a massive step for me.’
‘Now I want to help other people who are in the same situation as me with fundraising.
‘I’ve always wanted to do musical theatre and I’ve also been accepted to do modelling. It’s very exciting.’
Ms Owen’s mother Jane, 41, added: ‘Fundraising had been very challenging. Someone anonymous saw Jade’s post and wanted to privately donate.
‘It’s been really hard but it was just a lift off our shoulders. Our family had been fundraising for a long time.’