Weblike device helps cerebral palsy victims move again

LONDON - Children crippled by cerebral palsy can regain movement - thanks to an amazing equipment called The Spider.

The device is so named because it is resembles a spider’s web that holds youngsters up with elastic ropes.

Grace Windram, 4, could barely move when she first started using the apparatus at the Footsteps physiotherapy centre in Warborough, Oxfordshire.

But to the delight of parents Helen and Gavin Windram, she can now now sit up, kneel and crawl short distances, reports the Daily Mail.

Cerebral palsy may have involuntary movements, such as uncontrollable hand motions and drooling. Others suffer from associated disorders - seizures and mental retardation.

The Spider allows physiotherapists to implement a full course of exercises for a child in any chosen position and aligns their body properly.

Grace, who lives with her parents and six-month-old sister Amelia in Kingsthorpe, Northampton, attends the centre four times a year for two-hour sessions over a three-week period.

Pippa Hoyer Millar, the co-founder of Footsteps, said: “The Spider is loved by children as it gives them, often for the first time, the freedom to move on their own in ways they just haven’t experienced before.”

“The Spider does not offer a miracle cure but the power of intensive physiotherapy, expert therapists and the most effective equipment, all in conjunction with a child-friendly atmosphere, has worked wonders for scores of children.”