A brave four-year-old girl described as “very smart, funny, and very loving” is unable to speak after suffering a stroke while in her mum’s womb before being born.
Ivy Thomas, who lives in Leytonstone, has been dealing with the effects of cerebral palsy and other movement issues since her birth in April 2017.
She has only ever said the word “mamma” since she was born and has never been able to say anything else.
The young girl has trouble talking as the muscles in her face have been affected by the condition, and her balance and stability are poor.
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Ivy with her mum Valentina
(Image: Valentina Cimmino)
The muscles on the left side of her body have been known to contract without control, and she doesn’t have much control over her left arm and hands.
Because of the complex nature of Ivy’s condition, she requires a number of different therapies to help her grow and develop, and she is unable to live the life of a normal girl her age.
Ivy’s mum, Valentina Cimmino, 43, said there were no warning signs her daughter had these problems until she was around five months old.
Ms Cimmino said: “They told me I’ll never know what caused it, but from the MRI scan it looked like it was a prenatal stroke.
“We were just in shock. On the MRI scan we saw nearly all the right side of her brain had been affected.
“It’s not obvious, it’s more of an invisible disability but it’s there and it brings a lot of complications, it’s like not having a hand.”
Ms Cimmino and Ivy’s dad Quame Thomas describe their daughter as being a “very smart, funny, and very loving” little girl.
She loves eating popcorn, playing with animals, going for walks in a muddy forest and playing with water.
While she needs several different therapies, Ivy also requires regular physiotherapy to help straighten her limbs.
In order to give Ivy the best quality of life they can, her parents are fundraising to ensure she has access to all the therapies she needs.
Ivy and her dad Quame
(Image: Valentina Cimmino)
The funds raised through Ivy’s Just4Children page will contribute towards weekly physio blocks of occupational and speech therapy, and provide equipment to help Ivy’s condition improve at home.
The funds raised will also help provide Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT), a method of treatment for cerebral palsy that will help strengthen Ivy’s weaker side.
In a statement on Ivy’s fundraising page, her parents explain that the Covid-19 pandemic brought Ivy’s NHS therapies to a halt, and she has been forced to go private to access these crucial services.
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“The attitude of the NHS is wait and see, so they wait for something to go wrong and when something goes wrong, they try to fix it,” Ms Cimmino said.
“They should be preventing, to make sure she doesn’t get there. It’s such a complicated situation, she needs so much help. This is why we’re fundraising.”
Ivy’s parents have been documenting her journey on their Instagram account @ivys_lifejourney.
For further information about Ivy’s story and to donate, click here .
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