Elisabeth Svendsen Trust

With National Transplant Week taking place from 4th – 11th July 2010, EST Manchester tells the story of three-year-old double transplant patient Zainab Naiz who benefits physically and emotionally from donkey riding therapy.

Zainab was born with liver disease and at the age of one had to undergo a life-saving liver transplant operation. She was lucky enough to receive a liver from a young donor but disaster struck when it stopped working 12 hours after the procedure. Her mum, Aliya watched helplessly as doctors entered into a race against time to find another liver and her tiny daughter was put on life support and dialysis as her kidneys began to fail. At the last minute, a liver was found from an older donor. This was not an ideal match but with time running out, Zainab’s doctors knew that any further delay would leave them unable to do the transplant.

Following Learning Development Week (21-27th June 2010), EST Leeds tells how donkey riding therapy has been instrumental in helping a young girl learn to walk and find a new sense of self-confidence. At the age of two, Abigail Preece was not yet able to crawl and struggled with a range of developmental delays that prevented her from interacting with children and adults outside of her family.

Abigail has low muscle tone and learning difficulties which caused social difficulties and problems with balancing and learning to walk. Now aged five, she has been attending the Leeds EST for the last three years and has amazed her family with the improvements that the riding sessions have made.

When Cerys Edwards suffered a car crash at the age of one, doctors advised the family that she would never walk, talk or breathe on her own. Three years later, she is amazing doctors and family members by learning to stand and beginning to breathe without the assistance of a ventilator for short periods. Mum, Tracey, tells how visits to EST Birmingham have helped Cerys’ progress.

Following the serious car crash in 2006, Cerys tragically suffered multiple injuries, including complete paralysis and considerable brain damage. Now aged four, Cerys gets around in a wheelchair and is reliant on the support of a ventilator but visits the Birmingham centre of The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkey (EST) each week to take part in donkey riding therapy sessions.