The difference we make: Rosa's Story

After what was thought to be a minor car crash, 14 year old Rosa didn’t seem to have any serious injuries. Some time later, whilst walking with her mum, Sadie, Rosa’s legs stopped working and she had to be rushed to hospital. Worried and upset when Dr Easy Peasy stepped on to the ward, Sadie and her husband didn’t really want to be visited by a Giggle Doctor. Sadie kindly agreed to share her story about how glad she was that Dr Easy Peasy visited and how she went on to take part in Rough Runner to raise money for more giggles…

“My daughter Rosa was in the back seat when a car crashed in to the back of the car directly behind, that then crashed in to us. After the accident, she said her back was a bit sore, but that was it and we didn’t think anything of it.

The next day at school, the pain got worse. We went to see a doctor, who recommended we take her for a scan. At the hospital, they didn’t think she had a broken back, so didn’t scan her and we were sent home. Then one day she could barely move and had to take the day off from school.

When I came home from work, I encouraged her to go for a walk with me to keep her mobile. Around 500 metres from the house, her legs just seized up, her body was shaking and she couldn’t walk. We live on the back of woodland, so my husband and my son had to come and somehow carry her back to the car, so that I could drive her to the hospital.  

They kept her in for six days to try to work out what was happening. It turns out she had pre-existing slipped disks and the whiplash caused by the accident had caused her body to shut down when the back pain kicked in. The doctor said it was the most severe case of whiplash he’d ever seen and she still has relapses. She will recover, but they can’t tell us how long it will take.

On the ward at Evelina, we felt sad for all the other sick children and my daughter got really upset. She doesn’t have a terminal problem, so it was daunting for us being on a ward where there were children with lifelong problems. When you’re on ward with a lot of sick people around you, you’re right in the thick of it. You feel sorry for them, you feel sorry for yourself and you just think, “I don’t want to be here.”  

When we saw Dr Easy Peasy come on to the ward, I was thinking “please don’t stop, we’re really not in the mood”. She did stop thankfully and she changed the whole mood for the three of us. It was wonderful.

It was fantastic how she spoke to parents on an adult level, then quickly changed to Rosa’s level, who was 14 at the time, and then she moved on to the little boy opposite, who was 3 or 4 years old. You can definitely see the change and the happiness that the Giggle Doctors bring to the ward.

My twin brother, friend and myself took part in Rough Runner – it was great fun and we had a thoroughly enjoyable morning! It was activities we hadn’t tried before and all different fitness levels were there. Some people walked it and there was a 5k and 10k option available. We would have to queue at the majority of obstacles, so we ended up meeting and chatting to people taking part. It was a fun time!

We had already entered Rough Runner, but after the Giggle Doctor visit we wanted to raise money for Theodora Children’s Charity to give something back for what they did for us. My friends and family were really moved by what happened to Rosa. I put our fundraising page on Facebook and am really pleased with the amount we raised.

I think it’s a wonderful charity and I next want to fundraise at Rosa’s school. Rosa would like to do a bake sale for Theodora Children’s Charity! Dr Easy Peasy changed our whole outlook, that’s what made us want to give. It takes the child out of the situation and makes them forget everything.

Dr Easy Peasy was very nice and really funny. Both me and my husband felt so glad that she stopped. We didn’t speak to each other, but we were both thinking “please don’t stop, please don’t stop” when she first arrived. How wrong we were.”

Thank you Sadie for sharing your story and raising an incredible £590, which will help us give giggles to more children like Rosa.