Inka Wood is a 3-year-old who has been diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, which means she suffers from spasticity in her limbs — they often get too tight. This diagnosis can mean different things for different people, as people who have cerebral palsy can have a wide range of symptoms. Some people use assistive orthotics, commonly referred to as AFOs, to help them walk with their heels on the ground. Others require the use of more advanced devices, such as walkers and wheelchairs. Inka recently used her own walker to take her first steps.
Inka uses a walker that supports her as she makes her way around. However, even with her walker, she still experiences tightness in her muscles that can be difficult to overcome. Many people who have cerebral palsy experience this symptom, and it's not one that they can always control.
Inka was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was 18 months old, and since then she has been working toward being able to take steps with the help of her walker. Recently, she completely surprised her parents when she started walking after hearing the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, with its lyrics, "But I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more."
Inka's mom and dad, Holly and John, have shared that motivating their daughter to walk has been a challenge. And that makes sense — it's probably pretty frustrating to try to do something but your own body gets in your way, especially when you are very young and you can't understand what's going on.
Holly shared, "We fought really hard for Inka to get a walking frame but she didn't do too much with it — as the physiotherapist predicted. It was just really difficult to motivate her. But she loves music, so we would play all sorts of songs."
"We then put The Proclaimers on one day – and she just started taking steps. It was really quite amazing. It was incredible to watch. I was gobsmacked. She now says: 'Put The Proclaimers on!'. I did play it because it's a song about walking. It got her going. It was a really cool moment. It was just four or five steps."
Craig and Charlie Reid, the brothers who are in the band The Proclaimers, even heard about the story, and they're super happy for Inka and her family. "We are absolutely delighted to hear of this tremendous news."
Holly and John have also set up a charity to raise funds for a surgery that Inka will have. Craig and Charlie made sure to mention it: "Congratulations to Holly and John for setting up the charity and we wish them and Inka all the very best for the future."
Cerebral palsy is a diagnosis that can happen anytime, but many who have the condition are diagnosed as children. Inka was born 9 weeks premature, which is definitely a risk factor for cerebral palsy. Scans conducted when she was born showed that she suffered some slight damage to her brain at birth.
While cerebral palsy is a lifelong condition, there are various ways families and individuals can choose to treat their symptoms. Inka's family hopes she can have dorsal rhizotomy surgery. In this procedure, surgeons will cut the nerves in Inka's spine that are sending the wrong signals to her brain. This should help loosen her muscle tightness.
The surgery itself is funded by Britain's National Health Service, but Inka will also require months of physical therapy that her family needs to pay for. That's where Holly and John's new charity will help. So far, the family has raised around 40% of their goal of approximately $38,000.
Holly explained more about why the family started the fund. "Inka suffers badly with muscle spasms which do cause her a lot of pain. This operation will help manage that. We also know that, without it, she will probably never walk independently. We can't guarantee it, but the surgery will remove the spasticity – so there's no reason why she couldn't. That's the dream."
"We need her to build up strength for the surgery. We are just really hopeful. She's managed to build up her strength to walk the full length of Clevedon Pier last week. That's the furthest she's ever been. There's very strict criteria for the surgery. But we are hopeful after speaking to her neurologist that it will happen."
Holly and John are also hoping that their charity can benefit other children and their families. "The idea is not to only raise funds but also raise awareness of this condition which affects many children." You can follow along with Inka's adventures on Facebook, and you can donate to her parents' charity on Just 4 Children.
