An outraged mother-of-four was forced to appeal Facebook's decision to ban a picture of her smiling daughter being fed through a tube. Shai Winn, 9, from Chelmsford, Essex, has spent her whole life using a tube and last year her mother, Lindsey Bidwill, 40, started a charity to raise awareness about her rare condition. The child was born prematurely at 31 weeks and doctors told Lindsey that she had a laryngeal cleft - a connection between Shai's larynx (voice box) and her oesophagus (food pipe) and it means that food or fluid can pass into her airway.
Ms Bidwill tried to upload a picture of Shai smiling with her food tube to their charity's Facebook page, Shai's Smile but was told that it was shocking, sensational or excessively violent. She said: 'I was just shocked. Even if it was a robot it is just not on.'Some of the stuff on Facebook is absolutely shocking so I couldn't believe they didn't let me post a picture of my daughter. 'I never told Shai it happened, she would have been really upset.'Before advertisements show up on Facebook or Instagram they are reviewed to make sure they meet Facebook's advertising policies. If your ad is not approved you can edit it and resubmit it or if you feel a mistake has been made you can appeal the decision. Ms Bidwill immediately appealed the decision which was then rectified about 20 minutes later. Shai's condition is so unique that doctors have put her forward for genetic testing. Along with her laryngeal cleft, she has aspiration pneumonia (inhaling food, stomach acid or saliva into the lungs), oesophageal dysmotility (a spasm-type pain when swallowing) and gastroparesis (stomach paralysis). Shai can't drink water, go swimming and even brushing her teeth could be fatal. She spends 17 hours a day hooked up to a machine which feeds her. This can interfere with her schooling and means she's not able to have sleepovers at her friends' houses. Shai also can't go out with her school friends at lunch and has to spend her time playing inside on a laptop. Ms Bidwill said: 'She's been really down lately.'She's got one friend called Finley who also gets fed by a tube and they're really a lifeline for each other.'She said 'Mummy I only feel normal when I'm with Finley'.Shai is having surgery later this year to try and fix her laryngeal cleft but even if the risky operation goes well, she'll still need to be fed by tube.
The rest of her family sometimes struggle but they are all very protective and 'worship the ground she walks on'.Shai's two older brothers, Reef and Samuel, and her older sister, Elaine, all pitch in to look after her but Ms Bidwill says it sometimes means they miss out on family outings. Her father, Richard, finds it hard that he has to work to pay the bills but misses out on spending time with Shai. Ms Bidwill said: 'Shai wanted Daddy to come with her to hospital.'My husband has to pay the bills and it's hard because she wants Daddy to be there but he can't.'Ms Bidwill now works part-time for Little Urchins Photography and Richard is a self-employed carpenter. Shai's Smile has raised £20,000 which her mother wants to put toward a party for other 'tubes' the term used for people who are fed by tube. Ms Bidwill says the tube world is a lonely one and she wants to create a party which doesn't revolve around food to let the children connect. Hollywood star Kate Beckinsale recently uploaded a picture of herself in hospital after suffering a ruptured ovarian cyst. And journalist and Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan also put a picture of himself on Instagram while in hospital. Neither appears to have violated the community rules of Facebook or Instagram. Facebook has been approached for comment.