A one-year-old disabled girl from Kingston has been given a new lease on life after being given a specialist buggy by a charity.

Aariah Taylor uses a ventilator to breathe and is unable to leave the house without a specialist buggy to transport her life-saving equipment.

Her parents had initially approached the NHS for a buggy without success, so tried to use a double buggy to carry the equipment, but it broke under the weight, leaving the family in trouble.

But disabled children’s charity Newlife quickly provided the right buggy for Aariah through its emergency equipment loan service.

Her mum, Melissa Martin, said: “Wheelchair services told us they only provided two types of buggy; one which Aariah is too small to use and another which can’t transport her medical equipment. We didn’t know what we would do, but our Occupational Therapist told us to contact Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children.

“It was a huge weight off our minds when Newlife said they could help. Without it we would have been trapped inside, unable to go anywhere or do anything – including go to Aariah’s many medical appointments.

“Going out is hard anyway, but in this buggy we know Aariah is as safe as she can be. Without Newlife we would have had no choice but to get into debt as the specialist buggy she needs is so expensive.”

Aariah was born 14 weeks early weighing 560 grams. She has brain damage and chronic lung disease so she has been connected to a ventilator through an opening in her throat since she was born.

Now 17 months old, she weighs just 9.2kg, but the combined weight of her oxygen, suction machine, saturation monitor, ventilator and emergency kit is 20kg – over three stone – and needs two people to carry it.

Newlife relies on donations to keep its emergency response service running and is desperately calling on the local community and businesses to support its Emergency Crisis Appeal.

To help other disabled children in urgent need of specialist equipment, you can donate today by calling Newlife on 01543 431444 or online at www.newlife.support/EquipmentCrisisAppeal