Ilkley flag day raised £1,300 for Bel trust (From Ilkley Gazette)

Ilkley flag day raised £1,300 for Bel trust

9:00am Sunday 31st July 2011 in Local news By Jonathan Redhead

More than £1,300 has been raised to help a nine-year-old girl left paralysed after falling from a climbing frame and breaking her neck.

The money will go to the Being Bel Trust, which is raising money to pay for equipment to help Bel Young live at home after her accident more than a year ago.

The former pupil of Moorfield School for Girls, in Ilkley, was left quadriplegic and ventilator-dependent after the incident, which saw her spending nine months in hospital.

But her parents set up the Being Bel Trust to help raise money to fund the equipment and physiotherapy and rehabilitation care needed for her to return home.

“Last June I fell off a climbing frame while playing and broke my neck and now I can’t move my arms and legs or breathe by myself, so I need a tube in my neck called a tracheotomy which is attached to a ventilator,” said Bel.

“This means I can’t be left on my own, day or night, so I lie in bed or get strapped into a wheelchair and am totally dependent on my mummy, daddy and nurses for everything I need.

“My nurses, my physiotherapy, and special rooms and equipment are to keep me well until a time when I hope that the doctors may be able to get me to walk and to play again with my friends.”

And to help pay for the cost of living at home, estate agent Dacre, Son & Hartley raised £1,350 from a Flag Day in Ilkley to go towards the trust.

Rosemarie Fisher, from the estate agents, said: “We have collection boxes in our Ilkley, Burley, Otley, Guiseley, Harrogate and Ripon offices and the Flag Day in Ilkley really helped boost the appeal.

“Bel’s family wants to thank everyone who collected in Ilkley on Saturday and also everyone who has donated so far.

“We are very keen to help secure Bel’s future at home.”

Michael Ward from the company’s Wetherby office is running a 10km race in Harrogate later this month and another 10km race in Wetherby in September to raise money for The Being Bel Trust and Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

Cheque donations should be made payable to The Being Bel Trust and sent to Rosemarie Fisher, Dacre Son & Hartley, The Estate Office, Station Road, Burley-in-Wharfedale LS29 7ND.