Explorer backs girl's op appeal

From the archive, first published Monday 13th Feb 2006.

An explorer who had surgery to walk again after years of being confined to a wheelchair has joined the campaign to help little Gulshat Kadyrova take her first proper steps.

Claire Fullalove, who became wheelchair-bound after her hip bones began to disintegrate, hopes people will give generously to help raise enough funds for the six-year-old to have hip surgery in Oxford.

An appeal was launched in the Oxford Mail on Saturday for donations towards the £7,000 needed to pay for the operation at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, in Headington, on Monday, March 6.

Gulshat's mother Bahar, 31, sold her household possessions, apart from a telephone, to pay for treatment for her daughter and get her to Oxford from their home in poverty-stricken Turkmenistan, Central Asia. She has raised £6,000 towards the £13,000 operation.

Gulshat was born without any hip sockets and is unable to walk properly. Surgeons will create sockets to stop her leg bones "slipping" out of place when she walks, giving the little girl -- known as Lilly -- the chance to run for the first time.

Amy Schondelmeyer, a translator staying with the mother and daughter in a Cowley flat, said donations had started to come in following the Oxford Mail article and Miss Kadyrova and Gulshat were "extremely grateful".

Miss Fullalove, a former professional pianist, 64, of east Oxford hit the headlines in the early 1990s after travelling 200,000 miles across the world in her wheelchair.

She underwent hip replacement operations at the NOC in 1993 and 1994, enabling her to walk again.

Miss Fullalove said: "When I heard Lilly was coming to England and of her mother's plight, it reminded me a lot about my own life. Also, I have travelled near to her home country, so know there are only limited medical services. As a British person, I had the advantage of the NHS. Lilly and her mother do not have this and I hope people will help."

Gulshat and her mother have six-month visas to stay in England.

Miss Schondelmeyer said: "We're very grateful for the help the Oxford Mail has given highlighting this. Things are going very well and we cannot thank people enough for their support and donations."

DUE to problems with a website set up for people to donate to Gulshat's Fund -- www.gulshatfund.org.uk --Roberts Pianos, in St Clement's, Oxford, has agreed to allow people to drop off cheques for the fund. Cheques should be made payable to Rivers of Life Church (Oxford), with a note on the back saying "For Gulshat's Fund".

Oxford Mail readers can also send cheques to our reporter Samantha Simpson, at Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 OEJ, to pass on to the family.

For more information call Roberts Pianos on 01865 240634. Alternatively, email gulshatfund@googlemail.com

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