A distraught mother is offering herself to be a ‘walking billboard’ to pay for the treatment of her ailing four-year-old daughter.
Hamiltonian Kerri Arnold has sought the highest bidder on ‘Trade Me’ to have a company logo tattooed on her thigh, hoping to raise money for her cause.
“The logo must be within tasteful reason and not offensive. It would suit a brand name, logo or artistic design as I do some modelling. The size of your ‘amazing investment’ would be up to 15 cms X 15 cms, placed on my left upper thigh and worn with confidence,” she said on the ‘Trade Me’ website.
She told Indian Newslink that her daughter has to undergo medical examination in the UK and that the cost of travel alone would be about $15,000 in addition to other expenses such as accommodation, hospitalisation, diagnosis and treatment. These may raise the total expenses to about $50,000.
Rare ailment
Ms Arnold’s sad story began when her daughter Aalyha was born on February 26, 2008 at Waterford Hamilton, with an undiagnosed disability, possibly suffering from Williams Syndrome (a rare neurodevelopmental disorder) and Retts (also a neurodevelopmental disorder).
The single mother became concerned when Aalyha did not show ‘milestones’ at nine months.
“She was not sitting up, rolling up, or speaking. She just flapped her hands, and was constantly positioned and raised her sides.”
When she was ten months old, Ms Arnold took her to a General Practitioner, who referred her to Dr Peter Heron, a paediatrician at the Waikato Hospital.
Dr Heron realised that Aalyha was underweight and prescribed high calorie milks and referred her to a child development centre.
“I observed her with various trials and goals. I wanted Aalyha to have mainstream socialisation and hence enrolled her at a privately owned Early Childhood Education Centre. She had X-rays for dislocated hip disorder every six months,” Ms Arnold said.
She met with a number of health professionals on March 28 and decided on surgery to place a Mic Key button so that she can enjoy life.
A genetic test conducted in Auckland failed to show any abnormality.
Ms Arnold said she would donate 10% of the proceeds of the final bid for the tattoo on her thigh to a charity, 10% to Miss Eva Mitchel (a little girl from Palmerston North currently at the Starship Hospital) and her family and gift toys and books to the Waikato Hospital Children’s Ward 53.
Daily Challenge
She said she was offering ‘advertising space on her thigh because she was struggling with a daily challenge.
“The highest bidder will get a professional photo-shoot of the fresh Ink and emailed photos of the process from start to finish. I would like to choose the tattooist as I care about quality and perfection of the new tattoo that I will be wearing of the winning bidder,” Ms Arnold said.
If you are able to help, please contact Kerri Arnold on 027-8563078.
Photo :
Kerri Arnold with her daughter Aalyha
