Valentine's Eadie Ross is nervous but excited about her planned 18-kilometre trek to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko.
Eadie, 10, will do the Krazy Kosci Klimb next month in "bright activewear and a tutu" to raise money for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.
Eadie was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age one, after going through a traumatic birth.
The mountain climb aims to raise $450,000 for the alliance's "accessible gym and sports program".
Mum Cea Ross is advocating for some of that money to filter back to the Hunter at the alliance's Croudace Bay and East Maitland centres.
Eadie said the alliance's description of her as a "rock chick at heart" was "fair enough".
Her dad Brendon introduced her to the Foo Fighters. She saw them live in Sydney last month.
"I love that band. They're my favourite," she said, adding she liked lead singer Dave Grohl's "really long hair".
The music made her feel "happy and awake".
Eadie plans to see Pink in Newcastle next month and she'll climb Australia's highest peak on February 10.
She will do the trek with her family, including 12-year-old sister Ruby.
Eadie was optimistic about living with cerebral palsy.
"You don't get to do as much activity as other people, but you can still move around and be happy," she said.
She likes swimming, playing soccer, handball and frame-running, which involves a trike without pedals.
Mrs Ross said frame-running was "Flintstones style".
"She can run as fast as she wants without fear of tripping and falling," she said
"It's good cardio. A lot of kids with that disability can't get that cardio activity happening."
Eadie wasn't breathing when she was born and was quickly transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at John Hunter Children's Hospital.
She was suffering from hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy - a type of brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen at birth.
Once she was well enough to go home, she went for regular check ups to assess her development and potential brain damage.
She began to show delays in her gross motor skills at eight months.
"When compared to other kids her age, you could see simple things like sitting, clapping hands and speech were a bit delayed," Mrs Ross said.
This gave her future worries, like how her daughter would fare if she moved out of home as an adult.
But her main focus at the time was early intervention to help Eadie make progress.
She was referred to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance centre in Croudace Bay after her first birthday.
The team there helped her learn to crawl, stand and walk. She had physio, occupational and speech therapy.
"Now she's great. She's going into year five at school this year," Mrs Ross said.
She needs minimal help at the school, which is on a hill with many stairs.
"She gets the bus to school and a teacher meets her at the gate and helps her with her school bag if needed."
Eadie will join 14 other kids with cerebral palsy to tackle Kosciuszko.
In 1997-98, one in 400 children in Australia were born with cerebral palsy. By 2016, this had fallen to one in 700 - the lowest rate in the world.
This was attributed to advances in the health care of pregnant women and babies, and better management of high-risk pregnancies.
Improved neonatal intensive care and public health initiatives to prevent accidents also helped.
To support the cause, visit krazykosciklimb.com.au.
