Fright night fundraiser for Nina’s surgery
Horror buffs will have the chance to experience a spook-tacular Halloween fright night to raise money for a Timaru toddler’s medical treatment.
South Canterbury scare master Rory Foley is running a three-day Halloween fundraising event in Christchurch to support Nina Kerr, a Timaru toddler who has spastic palsy.
It is hoped the event will attract thousands of horror buffs, which will in turn raise thousands of dollars towards Nina’s surgery in the United States.
Nina was diagnosed with cerebral palsy just after her first birthday.
Her condition means she has never been able to develop like other children, and lives her life in quadriplegia cerebral near-constant pain from uncontrollable leg spasms.
Nina’s mum, Judith Mewhinney, has been fundraising to take Nina to the US for lifechanging surgery, but the procedure comes with a hefty price tag.
About $120,000 was needed for the surgery itself, and the followup treatments would cost another $60,000.
The Halloween Horror Story event will be similar to a haunted village that people can walk through, she said. There will also be a more family friendly day on October 30. ‘‘It’s going to be awesome.’’ Initial treatments had already given Nina a whole new lease on life, she said.
After undergoing TheraSuit therapy, Nina can now sit up unaided for nearly six minutes at a time. Before the therapy, she could only do so for three seconds. ‘‘It’s a huge achievement. ‘‘She can join in with mat time and story time, she can act like her friends.’’
The Halloween Horror Story event will run from October 28-31. It is R16, except for the family day on October 30.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.iticket.co.nz/events/ 2016/oct/halloween-horror-story.