One Direction Helps Young Fan With Cerebral Palsy

CHATSWORTH, GA — Like many 9-year-old girls, Rylee Sanford loves British boy band One Direction. Unlike most, she lives with a rare brain condition that causes her to have cerebral palsy, leaving her unable to speak all but a few words.

When her family went looking for some help in caring for Rylee, whose condition has her in a medical stroller, those two facts came together in a big way. After word got out that she was a fan, One Direction member Louis Tomlinson donated $10,000 to help care for Rylee and his former bandmate, Zayn Malik, shared her story on Twitter to his whopping 26.4 million followers.

"Rylee was so excited when Zayn tweeted her page and Louis donated," said her mom, Lisa Sanders. "We are extremely grateful for them and the donors that have donated."

So far, the fundraiser on the website YouCaring has raised $13,295 of the family's $15,000 goal.

With the money, Rylee's family hopes to make modifications to their home in Chatsworth, Ga., which is in northwest Georgia not far from the Tennessee state line. Those would include a walk-in shower, widened doorways and a ramp onto their porch.

"Having the home modifications will make our lives so much easier," Lisa Sanders said. "We have to lift her in and out of the car and carry her wherever she wants to go. The renovations will give Rylee more freedom to go where she wants."

They are also hoping to be able to afford stem-cell treatments, most of which they say their insurance will not cover.

Rylee lives with a condition called bilateral close-lipped schizencephaly. That's a rare birth defect that causes slits, or clefts, on both sides of the brain. According to the Genetic and Rare Disease Information Center, schizencephaly occurs in 1 out of every 64,935 births in the United States.

"When she was born the doctors told us she would never smile or do anything," Lisa wrote on Rylee's YouCaring page. "We were devastated, but she has been proving those doctors wrong."

Last year, when a video about Rylee was posted online, Malik noticed it, according to Lisa. And when the family launched her YouCaring page, One Direction fans tagged him in Twitter posts about it, making sure he saw it.

She assumes that Malik's tweet is how Tomlinson found out about their story.

One Direction has been on a hiatus since 2016, as its members pursue personal projects. Malik left the group in 2015. But the 1D Family remains strong, as evidenced by some of the messages on Rylee's fundraiser page.

"Rylee, I found you thanks to Zayn and Louis," one donor wrote. "I love your music taste, and hope you and your loved ones are having a wonderful day."

Wrote another: "You're a true fighter. I'm beating cancer for the 3rd time. We have this!! God bless you and God bless Louis and Zayn!! I work in the industry and it's nice to see real humble people in it!! Keep fighting! Hugs and Prayers."

For his part, Tomlinson left a simple message: "Sending you all the love! Louis x."

To see Rylee's fundraising page, click here.

Rylee photos courtesy YouCaring. Louis Tomlinson performs on stage at the Manchester Arena on Nov. 9, in Manchester, England. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)