ENSCHEDE - Nine-year-old Danilo Hesselink from Enschede has been multiple handicapped since birth, as a result of which he sees poorly, cannot speak and cannot move on his own. The parents, Willy and Ivana Hesselink, do everything they can to give him a good quality of life. But money is needed for that. The Danilo Foundation must provide a solution.

"The main goal is to get him moving and keep him moving," says Willy Hesselink. Because Danilo has to move every day, which is done through physiotherapy and fitness equipment. "Exercise improves the quality of life enormously," says Ivana Hesselink. The parents have adapted their lives to provide Danilo with the care he needs, and combine this with a full time job.

Daily assistance

And that care is intensive. Care workers are present every day and the physiotherapist comes twice a week to do exercises. Danilo cannot move on his own, but is helped by the Innowalk. This is a kind of bicycle that pedals automatically and ensures that the blood circulation and bowel movements improve. “Exercise is the most important thing. Because if we would not exercise with him, his condition would quickly deteriorate. That's because lung function deteriorates if you don't move vertically. ”

 ‘He only had his eyes closed’

The multiple disabilities came completely unexpected for the parents. The pregnancy was going well and there was no indication that anything would be wrong. "The only thing that deviated is that he had his eyes closed after birth." That was resolved after eye surgery in Rotterdam. But the development lagged behind compared to other babies, so a neurologist suggested to do a scan. “Then a bad news conversation followed. We were told that the vital parts of the brain were not well developed. That was a slap in the face, especially because we had absolutely not taken this into account. Yet we immediately said: our life is going to change, but we are going for it. Despite the epilepsy, this went reasonably well. Until it became 2018. ”

Because from that moment Danilo suffered from Dystonia, a disorder in which he has cramps all over his body. "He was crying in pain the whole time." After a visit to the local hospital MST, he was taken with screaming sirens to the children's hospital in Groningen, where Danilo was admitted for three months.

The message was not positive there either. "We were told there was nothing more they could do for him." But Willy and Ivana have a scientific background and did not give up. By means of a self-composed vitamin/amino acid mixture, Danilo's situation improved within a few weeks. “All doctors were flabbergasted. In this way we managed to keep him with us and things are going relatively well now. ” 

Foundation 

After all the setbacks, the Danilo Foundation has been in place since April 2020. Which was actually initiated by a friend of the parents. “We needed a new Innowalk, so a friend started raising money. That grew quickly, so we wanted to make it something official. ” Several activities are now planned. In any case, the new Innowalk has arrived, the next goal is a Mollii suit. This consists of trousers and a jacket that send electrical signals to the muscles in order to relax the body. This requires €7.500,-.