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A disabled actress fears not being able to leave home by herself after she was denied an electric wheelchair - despite having a condition that causes her to regularly break bones.

Samantha Renke has a rare genetic condition that makes it difficult for her to move a manual wheelchair without breaking a bone or suffering pain.

The 31-year-old, who was born with the condition, has broken around 200 bones and struggles to move around her home with her curved arms caused by multiple breakages.

Crossing the road in her manual chair has become dangerous because the drop kerbs are too steep, and she regularly burns herself when making a cup of tea because her chair isn't high enough for her to reach her kitchen work surfaces.

But despite this Samantha claims she was refused an electric wheelchair by the NHS because she can ‘wheel herself around inside her flat.'

(Image: YouTube/Malteasers)

The decision, she claims, is a serious blow to her independence as she struggles to get out of the house using her manual chair and fears a fall could cause her a "fatal" injury.

Samantha said: “It made me depressed and fearful that my independence would be taken away by one decision.

“I don't see a wheelchair as a luxury and would never ask someone to put a price on their legs. I want to be out and enjoy life."

Samantha has a rare genetic condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone condition.

She has had 10 operations in her life including 12 hour surgery to correct her curved spine.

The actress is well-known for appearing in a Maltesers advert last year, when Mars Chocolate UK released three Maltesers ads featuring disabled actors. The adverts, which were made with creative agency AMV, won Channel 4's £1m "Superhumans wanted" competition to be shown during the Paralympics.

Samantha says she desperately needs an electric wheelchair to be able to live an independent life.

(Image: Handout)

Samantha, of central London, contacted Hackney Wheelchair Services commissioned by City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group, early last year to ask about getting an electric wheelchair.

The service had supplied her with a manual chair four years ago, but she feels she now needs an electric one because her condition has deteriorated since then.

When she phoned Hackney Wheelchair Services - which is part of Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- last year, she said she felt “sad” and “shocked” by the response.

She said: “In a phone conversation, they asked if I could still push my wheelchair in my house.

“When I said ‘yes’, she said it was not likely I would get funding but she would pass my enquiry on.”

Samantha, who was born with her condition, claims she was told the funding was so tight that there would most likely be no chance of a positive answer for her.

She said they phoned her back a few weeks later and confirmed she would not be eligible.

(Image: YouTube/Malteasers)

Samantha, who as a baby would get three broken bones a week and now suffers a weekly fracture on average, continued: “They said if I’m still able to wheel my manual chair inside my flat, I will not be eligible for funding for an electric chair even though I think that defeats the object."

She added: “I currently have a manual wheelchair which restricts me from going out independently.

“Just outside my apartment, the drop kerbs are so steep that I would not safely be able to cross the road or get from one pavement to another without assistance. I can't even get to the end of my street.

“If I can't get out of the house, how am I going to become a career woman or successful in life.”

(Image: Handout)

If Samantha fell out of her wheelchair, she said it would be “very serious”.

Going out and about without help is simply not an option for her.

The little things are what frustrate her the most, not being able to pop to the shop alone to pick up some milk, or to the pharmacy to collect her medication.

“It's frustrating that I have to wait for somebody to help me do something that basic,” she told.

“I want to be next to my friends in the wheelchair, rather than them having to push me.”

(Image: Handout)

Samantha never wants to feel like a burden, and feels like in her head she’s independent, even though her body doesn’t always allow her to be.

Living in London doesn’t help matters either, as she said "it’s not very wheelchair friendly”.

She explained her belief in the ‘social model of disability,’ a concept which states that it is in fact her environment which disables her, not her disability.

“If everywhere had step free access or lifts I would not be disabled,” she said.

Due to her condition, she suffers aches and pains on a daily basis, but she doesn’t get “used to it”.

(Image: Handout)

Samantha, who claims she even got fractures in her mum's womb, said when she was younger her mother – a nurse- used to plaster her up.

Now, living independently, she doesn’t have that same support network.

Samantha does receive help from the government to pay towards a care assistant who she sees 10 and a half hours per week. But when she lived in Lancashire five years ago she received 20 and a half hours care.

If she had an electric wheelchair, she said she wouldn’t need to worry about her care hours being reduced.

For Samantha, a manual chair is even a hindrance at home.

(Image: Daily Mirror) (Image: Daily Mirror)

Her kitchen worktops are too high and she often burns herself with hot water when making a cup of tea.

With an electric wheelchair she would be able to higher and lower herself to suit her needs.

Samantha said she’s spoken to many other people over Twitter who are in the same position as her, unable to fund an electric chair.

She was quoted £6,267 by an independent wheelchair retailer at the end of last year for an electric wheelchair that would be suitable for her needs.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

So the 31-year-old has set up a JustGiving page to fund it, and her cousins Katrina and Deanne Montgomery ran the Weymouth Half Marathon on March 12 to help boost donations.

Any extra she makes, she will donate to the Brittle Bones Society, the UK charity providing support for people with osteogenesis imperfecta.

A spokesman for Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: "We can’t comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality.

"If a client believes their situation has changed in any way they should contact the wheel chair service so that their case can be reassessed."

Samantha is crowdfunding for an electric wheelchair. To donate, visit: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/samantha-renke