Meet Jaydi
Adapted trike
Little Jaydi has been lighting up the faces of everyone she passes on her new adapted trike.
The seven-year-old, who has ligase IV microcephalic primordial dwarfism, which affects her growth and balance, can now enjoy safely riding around the seafront in her Devon home town with her new equipment.
Jaydi’s dreams of owning her own trike, which would allow her to experience true independence and freedom, have been fulfilled thanks to a grant from Children Today and the generosity of online donations as part of a local fundraising appeal.
Children Today awarded Jaydi’s family £1,000 to go towards the cost of the equipment and helped raise the remaining £491.00 through an online fundraising page. Through the power of kindness, Jaydi reached her fundraising target in less than 24 hours of the page being published.
The specialised equipment, which Hickleys Healthcare supplied, arrived just in time to brighten up the family’s Christmas. Jaydi’s mum, Lisa, says:
“She was a bit apprehensive about going out in the cold weather at first but as Jaydi loves music, we attached a Bluetooth speaker and a balloon to it, so now it’s like a carnival float!”
Jaydi, who is sight impaired, has hearing issues and hip dysplasia, is unable to ride an average bike as she doesn’t have the balance to stay on.
Before the trike, the family owned a standard plastic toddler’s bike which Jaydi couldn’t ride without her mum holding on to her constantly. Now, Lisa has peace of mind that her little girl can get around on her trike without fearing she may fall off and hurt herself. She adds:
“I don’t have to worry about her toppling over as she’s all strapped in securely, I just grab the handle at the back and off we go!
“Every time we go out together she doesn’t want to stop pedalling which is great, she’s quite happy to keep moving her legs. So it’s a great way for her to exercise too.”
Jaydi, who Lisa branded as “happy, very mischievous and carefree”, is around 3ft and is not expected to grow much taller. The youngster is tube fed, has glaucoma, cataracts and craniosynostosis – a rare condition which means her skull didn’t grow properly when she was a baby. Despite this, Jaydi, who has also undergone a bone marrow transplant, is full of energy and according to Lisa has “a real zest for life”.
The equipment has brought another medium of fun into their lives; which is what Jaydi and her mum desperately need at the moment amidst another national lockdown. Lisa comments:
“We’re all so limited on what we can do now, so having something that’s a bit different and allows her to exercise is brilliant.”
Looking back on the generosity which poured in via online fundraising, Lisa comments:
“It was amazing, once it went on Facebook it went crackers, my phone was pinging every five minutes. She’s a bit of a celebrity around here, so once her story hit the newspapers as well, staff at the opticians, the fish shop and the taxi parlour were all saying: ‘I recognise that little girl, I’ve read her story!’”
With springtime just around the corner, Lisa is confident that her little girl, whose favourite place is the beach, will be able to get out on her trike even more and continue to lighten up people’s day with her musical trike.
The adapted equipment is set to last Jaydi for life; so people in her seaside town will be seeing a lot more of the youngster out on her three-wheeled carnival float.
