Phoebe stars in fundraising dance show for wheelchair plea

Phoebe Roberts, from Tattershall, was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus (a build up of fluid on the brain), and was not expected to even walk.

But her mum Rebecca said she was determined to walk, which she did by the time she was three years old, and then she decided she wanted to dance and so she joined Dance 10 in Horncastle.

But now Phoebe, who also lives with her dad Mark, sister Kaitlyn and brother Oliver, has scoliosis and will need three risky surgeries in the future, which could leave her paralysed from the waist down, and has been provisionally scheduled for the spring.

She also needs a new electric wheelchair, but she is not eligible for the wheelchair on the NHS as she can walk, so now the family have embarked on a fundraising campaign to raise the £8,500 needed to purchase Phoebe’s new electric wheelchair themselves. On Saturday, Phoebe and her dance peers took part in a fundraising dance show at the school’s studio, with a combination of ballet, tap and musical theatre routines, and Rebecca said Phoebe did so well in her show and was over the moon.

The show raised an impressive £560 towards Phoebe’s cause.

Fundraising efforts have been continuing over the past few weeks to raise money towards Phoebe’s wheelchair.

A fundraising raffle at Tattershall Farm Park raised £496 and a photo opportunity in two Coca Cola Christmas trucks raised £112. Another raffle also raised £225, and now the family is around halfway towards their total.

Phoebe is doing OK at the moment,” said “Rebecca, “She’s getting more and more tired, but she won’t ever stop.

“She’s very excited to be famous at the moment, and is loving being in the paper!”

To make a donation to Phoebe’s cause, visit the JustGiving page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/phoebe-roberts-4?utm_term=wwAmq4Y5E

You can also keep up to date with Phoebe’s progress via her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/phoebesstory