A heart wrenching tale from a mother who wants to let her young daughter with lung disease meet Father Christmas and Santa’s Grotto this Christmas has been released by local children’s charity Julia’s House.
Isabella Chan has suffered from a rare condition that causes chronic lung disease since she was six months old and requires tubes to feed fresh oxygen from a tank directly to her. The size of these cylinders can make them quite heavy and Erica, Isabella’s mother, can’t carry more than one at a time which severely limits where young Isabella can go and for how long.
Despite her unfortunate situation, Isabella is described by both her mother and nurses as a cheery girl who always smiles when she sees them arrive through the window and loves Christmas. Erica and the nurses from Julia’s House want to give her an experience she’s never been able to have before: the chance to meet Father Christmas at Santa’s Grotto.
Many have enjoyed the chance at meeting the man himself when their parents brought them to Santa’s Grotto as children but little Isabella has spent her short life being restricted by needing oxygen, food and water fed directly to her through tubes in her body. Her mother has made her Christmas wish to be a chance for her little girl to visit the grotto and see the man who represents the holiday she loves so much.
Julia’s House will continue to support the family and others who face the same struggle. One of their staff members, Harriet, said: “We can’t give our families the Christmas wish they really want – for their seriously ill child to get better – but we can help them to make memories they can treasure for the years to come.”
You can learn more about Isabella’s Christmas appeal on the Julia’s House website, her full story can be found there alongside many others who face similar challengers and you can do your part to help these struggling families.