Hartlepool mum launches fundraising campaign after daughter is diagnosed with 85% curvature of the spine

A Hartlepool youngster who has fought for life since the day she was born is facing a new health battle.
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Talia Foster, 12, has been diagnosed with an 85 per cent curvature of her spine and her mum Clair has launched a fundraising campaign.

She hopes to raise £6,000 to buy a specialist chair which will make Talia’s life easier and support her spine which can ‘crumble in on itself’.

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Clair is hoping Hartlepool people will support her efforts. She said Talia has a ‘massive 85% scoliosis curve in the lumbar region of her spine. At some point she will need major spinal surgery.”

Talia Foster who has been diagnosed with 85% curvature of the spine.Talia Foster who has been diagnosed with 85% curvature of the spine.
Talia Foster who has been diagnosed with 85% curvature of the spine.

She is fundraising to get her daughter a specialist multi-positional chair and standing frame which is is designed to ‘easily set Talia in a sitting, standing, supine or transitional position, at a touch of a button on the remote control’.

“They are going to have to operate on her spine at some stage but because she is 12, they have to wait for her to finish puberty.”

Talia has had hundreds of seizures a day when she was first born. Doctors told her mum she may not survive infancy.

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In the years that followed, she has also tackled epilepsy, brain cysts and numerous chest problems.

Talia Foster who is facing the latest of her many health fights.Talia Foster who is facing the latest of her many health fights.
Talia Foster who is facing the latest of her many health fights.

Now she faces the latest problem of the scoliosis and Clair added: “If she sits, her spine crumbles in on itself. Being in a relaxed chair is not ideal.

"She needs something with more support and this chair would be it.”

Talia has started in Year 8 at Catcote Academy in Catcote Road. It has one of the chairs but Clair said Talia needs her own.

"It is all about 24-hour postural support for Talia.”

Talia Foster who has fought health battles since she was born.Talia Foster who has fought health battles since she was born.
Talia Foster who has fought health battles since she was born.
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But the pandemic has caused its own problems with fundraising as Clair can’t hold many of the charity events she would have been able to hold if it wasn’t for lockdown.

She praised the Hartlepool-based Poolie Time Exchange which has offered to support Talia’s bid for a specialist chair.

The Hartlepool Mail has followed Talia’s story for years.

We also told how in the last few years, Talia has been:

* Registered blind with only 6 out of 60 vision in both eyes;

* Has been diagnosed with autism;

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* Has been diagnosed with dystonia (which is a movement disorder where the muscles contract uncontrollably);

* Suffered bronchitis;

* Has a reduced immune system;

* Suffered an outbreak of hundreds of ulcers in her mouth.

But nothing deters Talia and she continues to be a cheery soul who always has a smile.

To support Clair’s fundraising efforts, Clair urged people to either;

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- Make a donation to the Talia Sarah Foster Fund. It is available at;

Yorkshire Bank Account Name: Talia Sarah Foster Fund

Account Number: 12639454

Sort code: 05-09-75

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