Leona from Vianan suffered from cerebral palsy at the age of 23; A fundraiser for a cure in America

Wed Apr 19 2023, 13:34
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Wienen • Cerebral palsy at age 23, which happened to Leona van Dijk (24) a year and a half ago. The hospital in the Netherlands no longer means anything to Leona. In Utah, USA, there are still options to help Leona get rid of her daily complaints, but for almost 30 thousand euros. A fundraising cause for members at Body Steel Gym in Wynn.

Brain damage
“It started as a fun idea over a drink five weeks ago,” say the members who organized the fundraiser, Marjoline (30), Kelly (28), Martijn (43) and Mike (33). “But as the evening progressed and more and more good ideas were thrown on the table, we decided to take the plunge and organize a fundraiser for her.”

Leona, a member of the gym, suffered a completely unexpected cerebral palsy a year and a half ago when she was 23 years old. “I had a party the night before and I thought I woke up with a huge hangover,” says Leona. “But as the day progressed, the hangover feeling didn’t go away, in fact, I lost feeling in my left hand and face and decided to contact a doctor anyway”. After several scans and four days in hospital, it appears that Leona has suffered a stroke. The cause is still a mystery to doctors.

Fundraiser
In five short weeks, the four fundraising sports enthusiasts divided the tasks between themselves and together with Body Steel owner Kelsey de Fouw-Elbertse (33) organized the day down to the last detail. On Saturday morning, April 8, dozens of people from across the region came to the gym to raise money in various ways for Leona’s treatment. For example, members could put up money for the chance to choose a Workout of the Day (WOD), all kinds of organic produce from the region was sold, and people Practice Do it for money. The final result: 1,425 euros for Leona’s treatment.

On May 1, Leona begins her treatment in America. He is proud that the fundraiser is organized for him in order to keep the cost of treatment as low as possible.

treatment
“I am going to America this weekend for treatment. With special analyzes and exercises they can relieve my mental burden, a treatment that has not yet been available in the Netherlands because it has not been scientifically proven. Hopefully those two weeks in America will change everything for me and I won’t have to be constantly overstimulated. It would be nice to have the old one back.”

Donations can be made through www.helpliona.nl.

Matleif Helmhout