Retired engineer Stan Tottey adapted three-year-old Isobel Egelnick's tricycle
A charity has given a tricycle a makeover one child will never forget. MATTHEW JENKIN finds out how a tailor-made seat has made a disabled girl's playtime more enjoyable.
ISOBEL Egelnick was born with a genetic disorder called Rett syndrome.
This is believed to be the second most common cause of severe and profound learning disability in girls.
Like many children with Rett syndrome, three-year-old Isobel's speech and mobility skills are severely affected.
Most sufferers cannot speak and only 50 per cent of them will be able to walk by the time they reach adulthood.
The condition mainly affects girls and at least one in every 10,000 females in the UK are born with it.
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Even simple activities such as riding a tricycle are a challenge for Isobel.
But thanks to Remap, a charity which provides tailor-made lifestyle aids for disabled people, she can now ride her tricycle with relative ease.
The tricycle seat has beendesigned to fit Isobel's body
Her mum, Charlotte, 36, of Crofton Park Road, Brockley, said: "We bought her a special needs tricycle but when we got it she was really unstable on it and the front wheel wasn't fixed, so it was unusable.
"She hasn't got any balance so she needed something to support her round her trunk."
Stan Tottey, a 76-year-old volunteer from the west Kent branch of Remap, adapted the tricycle for Isobel.
Retired engineer Mr Tottey made a seat specially formed to fit Isobel's body and the steering was locked so it can only go in a straight line.
The idea for this came from occupational therapists at the Watergate School, Lushington Road, Bellingham, which Isobel attends.
Isobel's mother is delighted with the simple adjustments to the tricycle and she now knows her daughter is safe while whizzing round the playground on her three wheels.
Special needs nurse Mrs Egelnick, who also has a seven-year-old son, said: "She's a very smiley and happy child and is now very comfortable on the tricycle.
"What Stan has done is amazing. When she's not secure she goes really shaky and wobbly, and he has made her feel safe.
"It has given Isobel a bit of mobility and exercise, and hopefully, when the weather is better, she can use it outside.
"This has essentially made a piece of equipment we bought for her usable again."
Mr Tottey, of Kingsway, Petts Wood, is one of 17 engineers who do voluntary work for the west Kent branch of Remap.
He said: "Isobel's tricycle used to have a very small triangle seat which she just wasn't happy sitting on. Previously, she was wobbling like a rag doll on it."
Remap is an organisation of craftsmen which works with occupational therapists to help disabled people.
To volunteer at the west Kent branch, call Remap group secretary Jill Harkett on 01474 704727.
Or to find your nearest group, visit remap.org.uk
For more information about Rett syndrome, log on to rettsyndrome.org.uk
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