Isla, three, left heartbroken as Covid-19 stops her from starting school
LITTLE GIRL HAS RARE CONDITION
A LITTLE girl with a rare condition is heartbroken that coronavirus has stopped her starting school.
Every weekday Isla ScreatonKilpatrick has said goodbye to her eight-year-old sister, Paige, as she heads off to school.
Meanwhile, three year-old Isla’s school uniform stays hanging in the wardrobe.
She is thought to be the only child on the planet with mandibuloacral dysplasia, which is a lifethreatening condition that leads to various growth problems and medical issues.
But it has no effect at all on her mental abilities, and she is keen to learn and play with other youngsters.
Her dad, Kyle, said: “She was due to start at Granby Primary School in Aylestone in September and they were happy to accept her and did everything in their power to get her to school.
“But with her condition, Isla was having to shield earlier on in the pandemic. She’s not shielding any more but the government guidelines mean the school can’t have her yet.”
The problem is Isla’s tracheostomy – a hole in her throat that helps her breathe that sometimes needs to be cleaned out.
Kyle said: “The kit involved is very small and it’s simple but the guidelines say it has to be carried out in a separate room.
“The school is getting just as frustrated as we are.
“Since shielding came to an end in September she’s been leading a normal life but she can’t have an education yet.
“Isla wants to be at school. Every time we open the wardrobe and she sees her school uniform she asks us, ‘I go school now?’
“She’s missed out on so much fun in the run-up to Christmas.”
The disappointment for Isla – who last year supported Rainbows hospice with their Christmas appeal – comes a few months after her dreams of going to a nursery school were thwarted by the pandemic.
After she turned three in February, she was accepted into a nursery but staff had to change their mind because of Covid-19 pandemic.
Kyle, 37, said: “She’s stuck at home with her mum and dad and it’s boring for her.
“She wants to be at school, meeting friends, learning to play together and share. You can’t teach a three-year-old child that sort of thing when she’s at home with her parents.
“She’s not doing what children her age should be doing.”
While Isla’s early life was a time of worry for her parents, she is now spreading joy not just in her home in Leicester city centre but around the world.
Isla has 192,000 followers on TikTok and enjoys making videos with Paige and her parents.
For more about Isla’s story, visit her Facebook page.