Hello December! It’s the last month of a crazy year. Even though this December will be different than the years before, we are fully enjoying the festive decorations, Christmas lights, holiday movies and the carols on the radio. They bring a smile to our faces just like today’s warrior! She is a fellow Canadian from the east coast and is a strong little lady who is super adorable!

Meet Amara

Amara is 3 years old and lives with her family in the small town of Port Elgin, New Brunswick. She loves going for walks, exploring the outdoors and baking! She is also a big fan of going to Tim Horton’s for Timbits, something fellow Canadians can relate too.

Amara was born at 27 weeks gestation and weighed only 2 lbs and 6 oz. At 20 hours old she had an episode of ventricular dysrhythmia. This caused her heart to stop. Thankfully, a special nurse performed chest compressions just in time and Amara pulled through. Her first head ultrasound showed Amara suffered a grade 1 brain bleed. She then spent 30 days in the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was later transferred to the NICU in Moncton, New Brunswick where she was for 17 days before going home.

Amara was followed by high risk clinic once home and at 1.5 years old she was diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy, both of her legs are affected. The year following her diagnosis consisted of many appointments and physiotherapy. Amara uses a walker to get around and wears Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFOS0. She has started to take independent steps but is worried about falling. Amara is starting to notice how the tightness in her legs are holding her back from being able to do things other kids her age can do. Though she tries to be as independent as possible, Amara relies on the support of her parents to do most things.

After connecting with other CP families through social media, Amara’s family learned about Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR). After doing more research and wanting to give Amara the best chance at life as possible, they decided to apply for SDR with Dr. Park at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital. Recently, Amara was accepted!

Amara and her family have now begun the fundraising part of their journey. Their community has been supportive but with the pandemic, their fundraising ideas will be limited. For more information on Amara’s SDR journey or to donate to help cover the cost associated with the surgery, please visit their GoFundMe page Amara’s Wish To Walk.

We are so excited for Amara and for her bright future! We thank her and her family for letting us feature her on our blog. Below is a beautiful video of her and her family sharing their story. You can also follow Amara’s journey on Instagram at @amaraswishtowalk.

Thank you for reading today’s Warrior Wednesday!