“The Myrthe Foundation” aims to help children with a brain damage. Because Myrthe is the foundation’s first project we have named the foundation after her. In the future we aim to help other children with comparable difficulties.

Myrthe is a four year-old girl from the Netherlands. At the age of eleven months she contracted a virus which affected her heart-muscle. A mistaken diagnosis of asthma, and a subsequent error in treatment led to a ten minute cardiac arrest. After reanimation she was rushed from local hospital to a larger paediatric hospital, where the correct diagnosis was finally made. Unfortunately doctors here did not have the means to help Myrthe sufficiently. She was then transferred to a specialised hospital in Berlin. This transfer proved to be dramatic, however, when a fuel leak in the ambulance forced medics to transfer Myrthe (via another ambulance) to a helicopter. The hectic nature of this journey led to dangerously large fluctuations in Myrthe’s blood pressure.

When she finally arrived at the hospital in Berlin Myrthe was put in intensive-care, so that a special heart-machine could help her weakened heart cope with the virus. After ten days of heavy operations she was finally taken of the machine.

However, on return to the Netherlands Myrthe was diagnosed with extensive brain damage, as oxygen deprivation had caused the loss of a lot of brain cells. This is the result of both her cardiac arrest and her dramatic journey to Berlin.

At this time Myrthe’s brain damage means that she can’t walk, sit, or play. She cannot eat independently and her eye-sight is poor.

At the moment we are helping Myrthe through neuro-sensory therapy ( ) . This therapy aims to activate dormant brain cells and assign these a new function.

This means that we train with Myrthe for up to five hours a day. So far we have achieved the disappearance of epileptic episodes. Myrthe is also more relaxed, and she can creep a little bit and is saying some words. Progress, however, is very slow.

There is now a unique chance to give Myrthe a more normal life through:

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in America ( ). During this treatment Myrthe will spend time in a pressure chamber while being given her pure oxygen. This reactivates Myrthe’s dormant brain cells. If this happens at a young age there is a good chance of recovery. There are children who have regained their sight, ability to walk, use of hands etc. through this treatment. Some can now function almost completely normally.

There is still time for Myrthe. She can recover, if we help her quickly .

You can help her and others !

This treatment will cost € 150.000,-

Please help us to raise this money by sending a donation to:

“The Myrthe Foundation”

account number : 10 13 87 407

in Soest (The Netherlands)

(IBAN NL 30 RABO 0101387407 SWIFT : RABO NL 2U )

If you wish to be kept up to date about Myrthe and her treatment send an email to or look at .