US trip holds hope for city boy

Blaise Wyatt, with his mother Dawn Mackenzie Wyatt, will spend his third birthday in the US, receiving the revolutionary cerebral palsy treatment his parents have been raising funds for.

Claudia Baxter

BLAISE Wyatt is $3000 away from spending his third birthday in the United States undergoing revolutionary new cerebral palsy treatments.

The brave Ipswich youngster suffers from spastic quadriplegia, a severe form of cerebral palsy that affects all his limbs.

He will celebrate his April 1 birthday in the US, and will spend a month undergoing therapies not available in Australia.

Parents Dawn and Cameron have fundraised and saved $17,000 of the $20,000 necessary to pay for the trip and therapies, and launched a Facebook auction to raise the remaining funds.

"The support we got after the story we had in the QT last year was amazing, and we've had Xact Radiology and a couple of other businesses help out with the fundraising, and I've hosted auctions and sold Christmas decorations on Facebook," Dawn Mackenzie-Wyatt said.

Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt is currently tallying the money raised by the auction, which featured 52 items donated from local and Queensland businesses.

As the March 31 trip draws closer, Dawn said she was feeling a mix of emotions.

"We've got so much planned; I can't decided whether I'm excited - it's more hope I suppose," Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt said.

Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt said she wanted Blaise to try a range of Michigan-based breakthrough therapies.

"We're $3000 away from achieving our original plans, which included trying the TheraSuit method (a suit that helps with muscle control)," Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt said.

"But we want to try as much as we can while we're over there, and another $3000 on top of that would get Blaise hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which is a recognised cerebral palsy treatment that uses pressurised oxygen to form new pathways in the brain."

"There are so many amazing therapies available over there, it's amazing."

Although Blaise cannot talk, sit or stand, he has made promising progress since The Queensland Times last spoke with his family in October last year.

"Now he will roll and roll and roll. He rolls everywhere and really gets around," Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt said.

"He's also making all new sounds."

"We've been doing therapy twice weekly that has helped with Blaise's muscle tension, and now he's also been sized for new AFO footwear that will hold his feet in the right position," Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt said.

Ms Mackenzie-Wyatt said she was grateful to QT readers for supporting her son's cause, and invited people to support Blaise by liking the Believe in Blaise Facebook page.

Read more from the original source:
US trip holds hope for city boy