Daisy Maylin, aged four, who has JIA (Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis), with her mum, Becca, and her brother Noah, eight (Image: Denise Bradley)
Daisy Maylin, who loves to dance, has juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
The brave youngster was diagnosed when she was just two years old and now struggles with joint pain, swelling and stiffness in her knees, toes and neck.
The autoimmune condition, which has no cure and is a lifelong illness, roughly affects one in every 1,000 children in the UK.
Daisy said: “It’s something that affects me on the inside. Walking is the hardest part and having the injections hurts too,”.
Both siblings have been fundraising for charities like the Children’s Chronic Arthritis Association.
They want to make others aware of the different ways in which arthritis can affect those young people who have been diagnosed.
Becca said: “The biggest misconception is that she doesn’t look like there’s anything wrong because if her joints aren’t swollen, you can’t tell, but there’s so much going on behind the scenes.”
One of their recent events saw Daisy pouring purple slime – the colour for JIA – over her mum and some of her nursery workers at Spring Thorpe Hamlet Nursery.
Daisy with the staff at Spring Thorpe Hamlet Nursery after having purple gunge poured over them (Image: Becca Maylin)
Article by Danielle Champ at the Norwich Evening News
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