Making a difference in the lives of disabled.

November 16, 2015.

By Olivia Miwil

olivia@nst.com.my

Picture by Malai Rosmah Tuah

KOTA KINABALU: A wheelchair-bound child may get a chance to stand and walk soon. 

Abigail Xeena, 8, who was born with reduced mobility of joints, attracted the attention of Briton Stephen Salter, who is the chairman of makeadifference. com

The organisation helps to source funds and donations from the public to help disabled children in Sabah. 

Aside from medical expenses, Salter and his family are helping to ferry the children from their homes to swimming pools and other recreational places. 

"We are glad to be given the chance to send her for a muscle biopsy in Kuala Lumpur this weekend, which finally shed some light on her future," he said, adding that the travel and medical expenses would cost about RM4,000.

Abigail was referred by the Likas Women and Children's hospital here to have a muscle biopsy at University Malaya Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur. 

Abigail's mother, Nancy John Liau, 43, said her daughter went to school and lived a normal life like other children. 

Her friends at SK Sembulan here have been supportive and do not show any discrimination to Abigail for her disability. 

"Abigail does not show any sign of low self-esteem, but used to express her desire to walk like others. 

"Besides using a wheelchair to move, she would also get down and roll on the floor to get to a place,"she said. 

Nancy, who is a single mother, however, has prepared Abigail for the worst, in case the biopsy result proves disappointing.