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Meet Sabrina

Sabrina is a 13-year-old girl who lives in Melbourne. Sabrina suffers from moderate to severe cerebral palsy – athetosis. As a result of her condition, Sabrina has difficulty maintaining stable postures and active movements. She presented with marked changes in muscle tone (particularly her upper limbs) and muscle weakness is evident in her trunk and all four limbs.

Sabrina is able to sit independently, but requires seating support for most activities in order that she remain safe and use her upper limbs with best effect. Sabrina often walks indoors, over shorts distances, with a walking frame, but uses a manual wheelchair (propelled by an adult) for all other mobility. As well as movement difficulties, Sabrina presents with a heart condition, which required ongoing medical monitoring. She also has a severe hearing impairment. Additionally, Sabrina’s conditions result in her needing to use AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication) for expressive communication, for example, a Dynavox, which is an electronic voice output service.  Sabrina requires assistance and the use of many aids for most daily tasks.

Sabrina requires the use of a power and a manual wheelchair for getting around day-to-day, but also requires a manual wheelchair to assist with her muscle development and making life easier for her parents in transporting her for family outings and for use around the house. The John Maclean Foundation purchased a new custom made manual wheelchair for Sabrina at just over $4,500.00.

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