4 Paws for Maria Rapollari

Hi! I would like to introduce my Daughter Maria, we are located in Waterford, CT. Maria is a very brave and strong little girl. She will be turning 6 in May of this year. 

She has been through so much in such a short period of time. Maria is an identical twin but before she was born was diagnosed with twin to twin transfer syndrome. With the help of doctors they were able to save her life of course this did come with complications.

 She unfortunately had a stage 4 brain bleed which led to hydrocephalus ( fluid on the brain). After she was born at 31 weeks she had her first surgery. She had a shunt placed which helped relieve the fluid on her brain. As Maria grew, we started to notice things that were different for her. 

It first started with her vision. She was cross eyed and was no able to see clearly. She underwent two eye surgeries to help correct her straightness but this unfortunately could not help her eyesight. She was diagnosed with optic nerve hypoplasia. Her optic nerves unfortunately were damaged due to the brain bleed she has suffered. Glasses have helped her vision somewhat but she will always have vision problems. Fast forward to 4 months later she started to develop an eating disorder where she refused to eat. The doctors placed a gtube where she gets all of her nutrients. Which she is still on to this day. They wanted to figure out the underlying cause of this and this is when we found out she had cerebral palsy. For Maria it affects her use of her legs. For long distance travel she uses a wheel chair and for short distances she is able to use a walker. She was receiving Botox treatments for her muscles in her legs to help make walking for her easier but it wasn’t enough. She underwent surgery last fall to anchor her hips into her joints and muscle ligation for her inner thighs to help her with her walking. Shortly after this surgery we starting to notice some behavior problems and she was diagnosed with autism. 

Never the less, Maria has worked through these road blocks and is working on living a beautiful and better life. What would make her life even better would be a service dog. The goal is $20,000. Which may seem very high but this dog will come fully trained for Maria. Can you help her reach her goal? Any amount you are willing to donate would be absolutely amazing! If you can’t donate right now we hope that you will share her story. We thank you so much- The Rapollari Family