A little girl who is unable to walk on her own has now had to stop one of her favourite hobbies due to bruising it causes on her legs.
Hollie Worrallo, now aged seven and from Eastham was born prematurely after her mum, Elizabeth, developed an infection while pregnant.
Despite the efforts of medics at Liverpool Women's Hospital to delay Hollie's birth over several weeks, mum Elizabeth was told by doctors they would have to deliver her baby "suddenly" when her infection took a turn for the worse.
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Hollie spent her first three months in the neonatal unit at Arrowe Park Hospital, where a scan revealed she had two cysts on her brain which had burst, a condition known as periventricular leukomalacia.
Elizabeth said the condition caused a softening in one side of Hollie's brain, which, when the cysts burst left a lack of brain tissue in those areas.
At the time, doctors were unable to tell Hollie's mum Elizabeth and dad Keith how she would be affected as she grew up, although by the age of 18 months she had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy, a condition which can cause a range of movement and coordination difficulties.
Hollie's mum Elizabeth told the ECHO: "She is a strong child, and she was a strong baby as well, and she's always just happy, nothing fazes her at all.
"Cerebral palsy affects every child differently- with Hollie it's her mobility side but she's as sharp as a button.
Her dad Keith added: "It's more in her legs where she's not able to weight bear to walk, she can assisted with a walking frame but not under her own steam.
"With personal care as well she relies on us and her one to one support that she has at school."
Elizabeth said that despite the challenges Hollie faces day to day she is "happy go lucky girl with a thirst for knowledge".
She said: "She's mad about Pokémon, and she loves swimming, but that's something she's had to stop recently. because her legs are so stiff and knit together that they bruise each other."
Keith added: "She's like many seven year olds, Hollie would love to be a scientist or a vet, at the moment but as with every young child that changes every few months.
"At one one point she wanted to be a deep sea diver, then a submarine captain, recently it's a teacher.
"She said she wanted to be a scientist so she could help the world and stop the covid so everyone could go back outside.
"As a parent I look at Hollie and I think you could do that Hollie, you could do anything you wanted."
Hollie receives regular physiotherapy treatment and attends appointments at Alder Hey Hospital, where she hopes to have an operation which Elizabeth says could give her "the best possible chance in life" but for which the family have to raise funds themselves.
Elizabeth said: "Hollie has what's called stage four cerebral palsy, due to how stiff she is.
"There's an operation called SDP where they go into the nerves in the spine - there's one that sends and one that receives - they snip one of them which relaxes the muscles and will mean she's not as stiff.
"It might not mean that she's able to walk, but it could dramatically improve her quality of life, there will be more things she can do for herself, and we hope it will allow her to go back swimming again."
Currently the operation is available on the NHS for people with cerebral palsy stages two and three, but Hollie does not qualify for the operation on the NHS due to the severity of her condition.
The operation and extensive physiotherapy afterwards to enable Hollie to relearn how to do everything without high muscle tone will cost around £40,000.
The family started fundraising just before covid, and have managed to raise more than £3,000 but still have a long way to go to give Hollie the chance for the operation.
Elizabeth said: "It's been really difficult, with covid hitting, a lot of people are in difficult situations financially.
"We're hoping now we're coming hopefully towards the end of the pandemic to get her fundraiser back up and going.
"She such a strong person, a fighter from the day she was born, we just want to give her the best possible chance and best quality of life.
"We're raising funds through Just for Children, a charity, where companies can also donate and get gift aid, they hold the money and will liaise with Alder Hey when Hollie is ready for her treatment.
"The operation will take the stiffness out of her legs, and once that's done she would have to retrain - how to go the toilet, walk again - all the things she learnt with having high muscle tone in her legs.
"She's a stubborn wonderful little madam, with such a dry sense of humour, and so bright.
"The things she talks to us about - one minute it will be astrophysics, the next all about how to care for animals - she's so curious and full of fun and excitement at the world.
"She's a trooper, and so determined. She will look at other children and see them running around and talk about the operation.
Sometimes she's scared of the thought of it but she's also getting to that age now where she's aware she's in a wheelchair and other friends at school aren't.
"She takes it all in her stride, but we just want to give her the best chance possible."
To donate to Hollie's fundraiser click here
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