More than $8000 has been raised to send a Whakatane teenager suffering from a condition that's turning her body to stone, on a holiday.
A friend of Racheal Steiner-Hooker's mother has set up a Givealittle page to help raise money to send Racheal and her family on a trip to Queenstown.
Racheal, 15, has been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, that's turning her body to "stone".
"You know the saying - 'Walk a mile in my shoes' ?...... well, to be honest, I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Rachael is quoted as saying on the Givealittle page.
"Sometimes I wish I didn't always have to explain why I'm not at school or why for someone so young my body feels so old. Life isn't fair, I get it, but each day I choose life, through the good and the bad, taking it step by step."
Explaining the motivation behind the holiday, Rachael's mother Ange Steiner-Hooker told Fairfax: "She needs that family time and to make those memories".
She was diagnosed in June last year with the disease for which there is no cure and she can only take medication that will help slow down the progression.
The holiday will be a chance for to create happy family memories together before Racheal's body slows down even more.
A total $8,068.00 had been pledged on the Givealittle page as of 4pm today.
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