Play park in Exeter praised for its accessibility
Published: 12 April 2023
A young girl with a progressive muscle wasting disease has praised one of Exeter’s play parks for its accessibility.
Carmela, from Devizes in Somerset, was holidaying with her family in the area over the Easter break when she discovered the play park at King George V (KGV) Playing Fields.
The play park – once voted the 6th most accessible and inclusive playground in the World – was given a much needed £14,000 refurbishment in the summer of 2020.
The work was carried out by Exeter City Council thanks to £10,000 legacy funding from Exeter Mencap.
Carmela, who is a very happy, bright and funny little girl with a zest for life, struggles with daily obstacles because of her muscular dystrophy.
She posted on her Instagram account: "I had a great time!"
"There are some really great accessible pieces of equipment that could easily be added to ALL parks in the UK so ALL children can play equally. Doesn't have to have the wheelchair swing because I know this can be quite costly, but simple ramps to lead the child up to the top of the climbing equipment, floor roundabouts, floor trampettes and wheelchair friendly flooring would be a great start for local councils to consider."
She added: "I live south of Devizes and I and many other children in the area, struggle to use the local parks, so please Wiltshire Council Devizes Town Council Market Lavington Parish Council can you consider to make your playgrounds accessible? The round netted swings and space seats that are currently seen in some parks are NOT accessible, as non-ambulant physically disabled children cannot get on them alone!"
Carmela has LMNA Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, a very rare progressive muscle wasting condition which affects just one in a million children around the world. It affects children with different severities. Some children lose their battle early on in childhood, some make it to late teens and some children can make it to adulthood with the help of specialist intervention to help with breathing and heart complications.
LMNA is the gene which produces protein to help strengthen muscles is what these children don't have.
Carmela enjoys the fast lane such as whizzing down the hills on the back of her mum’s bike and being as active as possible doing fast funfair rides. She is very sociable and is always smiling and pretty much anything excites her. But there are days she gets upset because she can't keep up with her friends or she is fed up of falling over.
Her family want to help Carmela and other children with L-CMD to stay strong and fight for a cure but need the help of others to make this happen. They have set up a JustGiving page to help to raise vital research money to fund projects costing around £6,000 a month to research a treatment or cure for this rare condition. The hope is that this will help these children have hope of a longer life or even a treatment to make it easier for them to cope.
To find out more, go to the JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/muscular-dystrophy/carmela