Helping little Croatian girl Tia who has one wish – to walk on her own

Tia Šeri (Private album)

Tia Šeri needs our help. Time is running out every day and the moment when this little Croatian girl needs to go for surgery is getting closer. 

This is a story about a little girl whose development defies all prognoses.

Tia was born with a large deficit of brain tissue and diagnoses that accumulate with each new developmental stage. Despite this, she is a happy, playful little being who makes everyone happy with her smile every day, from morning to night.

Cognitively and intellectually, Tia is just like any other child her age, playful, eager for the company of kindergarten friends, currently most interested in letters and numbers and does not allow her motor disability, which prevents her from moving independently, to stand in the way of her goal.

(Private album)

“Her development is a great enigma for all of us. We are grateful to all the doctors, specialists, nurses, therapists, educators and, above all, the good people at the Zagreb Children’s Clinic, the Različak Kindergarten, and especially the Glavić Polyclinic, which has accompanied Tia on her way to an independent life with daily therapies for five full years,” her mother Narcisa tells us, explaining what the process is for the whole family.

“Preliminary examination, at the Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, which is recognised as the national center for spastic cerebral palsy in the USA, is confirmed by Dr. Park that Tia is a candidate for the Selective dorsal rhizotomy operation. The operation involves a procedure on the spine, which, in layman’s terms, will reduce hypertonus and muscle spasm, which prevent her from normal leg movement, i.e. walking, followed by an orthopedic procedure on the ligaments of the lower extremities and daily physical therapy, all at the hospital in St. Louis for 30-40 days.

As she has currently reached her motor maximum, this surgery will enable her to take her first independent steps with further therapeutic exercise with the help of neurorobotics at the Glavić Clinic and become as independent as possible since she will start elementary school next year,” Tia’s mother reveals to us.

(Private album)

The operation is planned for March 2023, and the total amount that needs to be paid 45 days before the date of the operation is $65,115.00 plus travel and accommodation costs.

The family recently launched a campaign on the Go Get Funding page with Tia’s profile called ‘FOR Tia’s STEP’. 

You can help little Tia that way by making a donation or via a bank account. Details below.

https://gogetfunding.com/za-tijin-korak-for-tias-step/

Bank details: Tia Šeri, Zagrebačka banka: IBAN: HR0523600003119183884

You can find out more about Tia’s story on her Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/tia.shery?r=nametag