Elsie Lange
A GoFundMe campaign for a Gisborne two-year-old who was kicked in the head by a horse last month has garnered more than $11,000 in donations overnight, in an effort to raise $50,000.
Charlotte Footner was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital (RMCH) from Bullengarook in a critical condition on Wednesday, August 24.
Her uncle and fundraising organiser, Shannon Briggs, said hearing about the accident was “shocking… an absolute nightmare”.
“[She’s] the youngest member of our family and has everything going for her and it’s just absolutely devastating,” Mr Briggs said.
“To begin with, we weren’t sure whether she would survive, so we were just taking it hour by hour at that point.”
The toddler remains in a serious condition, after being brought out of a four-day induced coma – but she will be in hospital for months while she learns to move and talk again.
Mr Briggs said while Charlotte was slowly recovering, her parents, Brett and Rachel, have been prepared for “a long road ahead”.
“Charlotte has sustained significant head and brain trauma which makes her future uncertain. At best, she will spend months in hospital and likely require years of medical treatment, including occupational therapy, speech therapy and specialist physiotherapy equipment,” he said.
The treatment for the young family’s only child is forecast to cost thousands, and Mr Briggs said he didn’t want the family to be worrying about paying for medical bills “on top of everything else… which is their daughter’s health and recovery”.
“There’s not really much you can do as an uncle, or as anyone else, except to try and do something like this to take the financial pressure off them,” Mr Briggs said.
He said it was heartwarming to see so much support for the fundraiser roll in fast, making one fifth of the fundraising goal in just 24 hours.
“Especially seeing as it’s mostly people we know… our close friends and relatives have been super, super generous,” he said.
Mr Briggs described his niece as a bright, bubbly and intelligent child, and said any support from the community would be greatly appreciated.
“If people feel that they can help and would like to help, her young family would really support it – they are not wealthy by any means, they’re just a normal, Australian family, with a very young daughter,” he said.
Details: www.gofundme.com/f/charlottes-medical-bills-and-family-support
