DESPITE being unable to walk or talk, four-year-old Isabella Gardiner never fails to put a smile on her mum Tracey’s face.

The Carterton youngster, who has a rare brain condition slowing down her physical development, can be left frustrated at not being able to take part in activities with other children.

Instead Mrs Gardiner, 35, who set up a charity for sufferers, has organised for her to go on a trip with 70 other children with similar diseases to Legoland in Windsor today.

She said: “Considering she can’t do things that other children can, she has every right to get frustrated but she’s just the happiest little girl.

“I have to feed and dress her – she’s like a baby. The doctors can’t give her the prognosis because it depends on how badly she is affected.

“It’s quite scary when a doctor says they haven’t heard about the condition so it’s nice to get the opportunity to meet other families in the same position.’’ Isabella was only diagnosed with polymicrogyria, in which her brain surface has an abnormal amount of ridges, when she was two.

She is unable to stand or sit unaided, or speak properly, and must have regular physiotherapy sessions to improve strength, balance and coordination.

Mrs Gardiner, a former teacher at Witney’s Tower Hill Primary School, is married to Sgt Paul Gardiner, 35, a training school instructor at RAF Brize Norton.

She set up Polymicrogyria Family Support in April 2013 and has raised £9,000 to help 80 families in the UK. The money has funded personalised balloons for when children go in hospital and trips to Alton Towers and Peppa Pig World. Mrs Gardiner hopes to eventually raise enough cash for a sensory holiday home.

 

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