Sonia is a community worker with Romano Lav and comes from a big family of Polish Roma musicians. Her grandson was a victim of an attack in October 2023. Because of the long waiting list of NHS they had to go abroad and now have to pay for private medical care and surgery and cover the cost of urgent operations and other costs.
Her grandson is 14 years old and has clubfoot (congenital talipes) and sensory and motor neuropathy of axonal demyelinating (HMSN) so already had problems with his feet, though he was still able to do basic physical activity, walking, playing football and able to go to school. In October 2023 when he was attacked by group of young boys and had serious injuries all over his body especially on his feet.
Right now he can't walk and is using wheelchair, his feet are in casts and the doctor says he is lucky to be alive after the incident. He had an immediate treatment, but needs more operations done. His illness also got worse and needs to be treated to stop developing further.
Once he is treated to recover from the injuries he will need to go through long term treatment and physiotherapy to be able to walk again.
Sonia's daughter is a single mother who is the primary career for him full time and she currently can't work or afford to pay for the costs. Sonia tried to support them financially but also ran out of money due to her own health issues.
Her grandson’s mental health has taken a toll on him since the violent attack. He has been traumatised and is not able to cope day to day, cannot leave the house and can't be left alone. He is very demoralised and will also need counselling and therapy long term to build resilience to go through the long treatment affecting his life and eventually return to some kind of normality as a teenager.
Please help them get the support they need to turn their son's health condition around. He didn't deserve to be treated that way and deserves better!
Note the photo is of the grandson at a younger age, to protect his identity.