A brave Stockport teenager who underwent surgery to amputate her leg is overwhelmed by the generosity of the public who have donated in order to help her raise funds for two prosthetic limbs.
The 15-year-old’s friends and family have rallied round to raise more than £6,000 of the £16,000 needed to purchase two prosthetic limbs for the teenager.
Harriet Wright, from Stockport, is delighted with the progress she has made since having the operation only six months ago after the year before she was confined to a wheelchair.
She was able to walk on a Battle of Britain commemoration day march alongside her colleagues with 162 Squadron of the Air Cadets for the first time last month after asking surgeons to amputate her left leg.
She said: “To stand alongside my peers and bang the drum was the best feeling in the world. It may have rained on the parade, but nothing can take away the sense of joy I have at being able to stand tall without the pain.”
The brave teenager was born with bilateral talipes, commonly known as club foot, with her left foot considerably worse than her right.
She only had a third of the calf muscle and foot drop in her left leg as well as severe arthritis in the ankle joints.
Schoolgirl Harriet, who had endured years of excruciating pain, took the amputation option to put her on the path to a better future.
Harriet’s family are overwhelmed by the generosity of the public as their initial JustGiving target has been exceeded by more than £1,000 taking them just under £10,000 off their ultimate fundraising figure.
Now as the current JustGiving appeal has just three days to run they’re hoping that they can get even closer to the target before their next fundraising push.
Harriet’s mum Amanda, 47, said: ‘We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the generosity of readers and the wonderful messages of support for Harriet.
“She’s inspirational in the family and it looks like she’s touched a lot of hearts elsewhere now.
“We set the initial fundraising target at just £500 and that has been exceeded beyond our expectations.
“We had to reach the target otherwise the pledges get sent back and we thought we’d be doing well to raise another £500, but the support has been fantastic.
“There are lots of other fundraising plans in the pipeline and the aim is to raise the remainder of the money by next Spring.”
Since Harriet’s amputation she has already learnt to run, play tennis, javelin, volleyball and her mum described her as being a ‘true natural’ when it came to playing badminton.
The ambitious teenager said: “It’s so lovely to hear that people find my story inspiring and are so generous to send donations to my leg fund.”
Readers wishing to donate can do so through Harriet’s fundraising page here.
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