Wheelchair plea as Jack starts school (From York Press)

Wheelchair plea as Jack Rigg starts school

9:18am Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy is defying doctors’ predictions as he prepares to go to a mainstream school in North Yorkshire.

When Jack Rigg was born, his parents were told he would never be able to sit, stand, walk or talk.

His mother Carolyn said: “We were told we had a child of very limited abilities. We never thought he would be in a position to attend a mainstream school.”

Now Jack, from Harrogate, is a lively little boy who can sign and count, and is learning to operate a communication aid, as well as crawl and even take tentative steps using a specialist walker.

He is set to start at St Mary’s School in Knaresborough later this month with his twin sister Jaden but the youngster, who has a diagnosis of quadriplegic cerebral palsy and Bulbar palsy, urgently needs a powered wheelchair so he can fully integrate into school life.

The cost of the equipment is £9,864 which has prompted his parents to approach leading UK children’s disability charity, Newlife Foundation, for help with funding.

The charity says it would like to help, but is experiencing hugely increased demands on its resources.

Sheila Brown, Newlife chief executive, said: “Because of the huge demand, we are calling on ‘local heroes’ to help us raise money to fund equipment in North Yorkshire.

“Newlife guarantees that 100 per cent of any gift or donation will go directly to support disabled children in the county.”

• Anyone who is able to help raise funds should phone the Newlife Community fundraising team on freephone 0800 988 4640.