Fundraising for rare condition

The family of a Buckie toddler born with a rare brain condition has praised the “brilliant” charity which supports them.

Demi Addison, two next month, was born with hemiplegia – a type of cerebral palsy – after suffering a clot to the brain while still in the womb.

It means the left side of her body is significantly weakened.

Mother Erin, 26, said: “From the start, we noticed that she couldn’t really use both her hands – the left one was always clenched and she was always using her right one.

“The health visitor said it was probably muscular and there wasn’t anything to worry about.

“It wasn’t until we went to a physiotherapist when she was 10 months old that we learned that it was hemiplegia.”

There are only four or five children in Moray who have the condition, which means Demi’s family have sometimes struggled to make people understand the challenges they face.

But Mrs Addison said: “Despite everything, Demi is so determined – she doesn’t let her condition slow her down for one minute.”

Now husband Kevin has decided to cycle from Land’s End to John o’ Groats for HemiHelp – a charity which supports children and young people with hemiplegia.

He plans to complete the challenge in nine days in September, and hopes to not only raise vital funds but also awareness.

Mr Addison, an assistant driller for Maersk Drilling Norway, said: “I was also keen to do an event which I knew would really motivate me and I knew that would have to be something quite extreme.”

He said he wanted to push himself so will be doing it in nine days.

Donations are flooding in, and since his work has pledged to match whatever is raised, Mr Addison is delighted he is already looking at £8,000 before he even sets off. To support his effort, visitjustgiving.com/ fundraising/kevin-addison1

Demi Addison