On the last Friday of our September Vacation Care program, Complete Kids held our very own Colour Run to raise awareness for children with arthritis.

Thalia Salt (one of our OSHC children) is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis at the age of 6. Due to this medical condition,  Thalia requires crutches and a wheelchair to assist her, due to the pain she experiences when walking.  Having gone through many, many surgeries and having to use aids to move around has not affected Thalia’s bright and bubbly spirit. Thalia is in fact, is a true inspiration as she smiles and encourages others to learn about Osteoarthritis.

During our colour run, Thalia became the event photographer and greeted everyone at the end of the race with a  lollipop. She has even started her own Facebook page called “Hippy, Hoppy, Happy” https://www.facebook.com/HippyHoppyHappy  where she raises awareness about childhood arthritis.

After our CK Colour Run,  Thalia came to visit our Koala Kindergarten to give an educational talk and read a story, that Thalia wrote herself, about childhood arthritis. Our Koalas Kindergarten children had been working all morning on creating a beautiful rainbow for Thalia and they enjoyed watched her ride through the rainbow on her wheelchair.

We would like to thank Thalia and her family for our visit and for being such an inspiration.