For one plucky youngster, a daily cocktail of antibiotics, vitamins and enzymes is the least of her worries.
For two-year-old Anna Marke, just staying healthy is a challenge in itself.
The youngster suffers from cystic fibrosis – a life-threatening genetic disease that gradually destroys the lungs.
Her mum, Rachel Marke, 31, from Winklebury, has launched a charity, Anna’s Challenges, in a bid to help buy life-saving equipment for Basingstoke and North Hants Hospital.
She is aiming to raise more than £7,000 to buy an Airway Clearance System – a vest that vibrates using air pressure to help clear her daughter’s lungs of sticky mucus.
In January, Anna was admitted to hospital for a fourth time with a pseudomonas (bacterial) infection. Over two weeks, she was given antibiotics, IV drips and physiotherapy sessions with the vest.
And she undertook 20-minute sessions with the vest up to four times a day to clear her lungs as an alternative to patting down her chest by hand as part of her treatment.
But the hospital has the life-saving machine only on loan, so Rachel has made it her mission to raise enough money to buy one.
Rachel said: “Anna really likes the vest – she even fell asleep during one session, it is much better than patting down the chest. It is a lot easier than holding her down for her physio and takes the stress of that session away from her.”
Anna was diagnosed with the incurable disease when she was four weeks old.
In Basingstoke, there are an estimated 18 children with cystic fibrosis.
Rachel hopes they will benefit from the machine.
She admits that since her daughter’s diagnosis life has been difficult, but setting up Anna’s Challenges has given her a new direction.
She said: “I have had my ups and downs. For the first six months, I was very practical, but after that it hit me. It was very claustrophobic.
“It is not a curable disease and there is nothing you can do. But Anna’s Challenges gives me a focus, it is something positive and it helps other children. We are quite fortunate, so it is good to know that we can help people.”
In her bid to raise the cash, Rachel has entered the British Gas Great London Swim on July 2. The event is a one-mile swim in the Thames through London’s Docklands.
For more information, visit www.annaschallenges.org.uk
