Raelyn' Handicap Van

This is the amazing Raelyn 
She is 19 months old and full of life, love, and possibility. Unfortunately, Raelyn was diagnosed at 4 months old with SMA ( Spinal Muscular Atrophy) type 1, the most devastating type that is classified as terminal. SMA is the number 1 genitic killer of children under 2. This genitic condition severely affects her muscles and has left her unable to sit up, hold her head up, roll over or move her legs. Raelyn will never be able to stand or walk. She lost the ability to swallow shortly after her diagnosis leading to a feeding tube.
Raelyn  has some control of her arms and is still able to speak at the rate of a baby her age. The muscle weakness has also had a dangerous effect on her respiratory system. Her rib cage muscles are unable to expand her chest the way they should, forcing her diaphragm to do the majority of the work for her airflow. This makes it very dangerous and hard for her to be at an incline for any length of time, thus she spends a majority of time laying flat. This lead us to remove her from a typical car seat almost immediately following diagnosis. Through an SMA comunity we found what's called a Car Bed. The Car Bed has allowed us to transport her safely laying completely flat.
She is now at the point where she is coming very close to no longer fitting in the bed safely.
Raelyn has a wheel chair she uses that does position her at a slight incline that is safe for moderate periods of time. If she must be in it for any lengthy periods she must wear her bipap mask to assist her breathing .
Raelyn has to travel to doctor appointments, therapy appointments, and a special needs class 2 - 4 times a week. We have considered several options including the public bus as an alternative to the car bed to get her where she needs to go. The bus has proved to be less than viable option for a few reasons .
 Raelyns conditon has left her in a very medically fragile state. leaving her vulnerable to things such as  the common cold which can easily become pneumonia and turn fatal. The public bus more than triples her travel time, making the time in her wheel chair very hard on her respitory system. She has machines that would require  a source of electricity with that length of a trip.

This all has brought us here to Gofundme looking to the generous hearts of friends, family, and complete strangers to make Raelyn's life healthier, happier, and more comfortable . We would not only love to safely  transport her to nesecary appointments, but to fun things that can help her experience and enjoy life to the fullest. 

These are some photos of the type of van that is what we are looking to get for Raelyn. It's a sprinter van that has the lift for her wheel chair and an amplifier power source  with electrical outlets for her 
*feeding pump
*pulseox
*bipap
*suction machine
*cough assist
*nebulizer 
(photos used courtesy of *Unlock the Kaige* www.facebook.com/unlockthekaige  )




There are many trials in progress that are very close to a cure. We are very hopeful and optimistic so keep your eyes on our page the title may change to "Raelyn's Cure Fund!" If your interested in reading about these amazing trials I've include a link below. We appreciate your time and consideration in contributing to the quality of Raelyn's life. She's  a fighter who most definitely deserves the opportunity to experience all she can while she can ❤️