Folsom girl with cerebral palsy inspires Australian singer to write a song
By DeNeeka Hill
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FOLSOM, California (KCRA) — An Australian singer is working to bring awareness to children dealing with cerebral palsy after connecting with the aunt of a 4-year-old girl Riley Baker who lives in Folsom.
“She ended up getting meningitis at 31 weeks and that caused her to have hydrocephalus, which is the trapping of spinal fluid in her head. She ended up getting meningitis again when she was four months old and that cause her to end up with some pretty severe cerebral palsy,” said Cassi Baker, Riley’s mom.
Despite her condition, Riley is full of joy, which caught the catching the attention of Australian singer Nicole Ferreira.
“I went onto the Facebook page and I just watched all these videos and saw all these photos of Riley,” Ferreira said.
After learning how much Riley’s treatments cost, Nicole said she wanted to do something to help.
“I heard her voice. I heard her giggle and I was like I can sing with that,” Ferreira.
That’s when the work began. Ferreira and the Bakers met over Zoom and created a list of all of Riley’s favorite things. The process took about one year to complete.
“She spent months perfecting it. She wrote it really fast, but she was very meticulous about making sure that Riley was in the song and she was the focus of it,” Baker said.
The goal to spread of the song is to spread awareness by highlighting Riley’s beautiful spirit.
“Hopefully when people hear it they’ll go and look at Riley’s story and donate directly cause. That’s where the biggest help is going to be. The awareness not only for Riley but all kids with cerebral palsy,” Ferreira said.
You can find the song “Riley” on all streaming platforms; 100% of the royalties and proceeds go to Riley and her family.
Here’s a link to the song “Riley” on Apple Music, as well as a link to Riley’s GoFundMe.
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