Modified Vehicle for Ryan Vlaad

Thank you for taking the time to read our story! This may take me hours to write as it always has a tendency to flood my eyes with tears not only due to the hardship we have had to face over the years but also the joy that Ryan has truly brought to our lives. 

(Ryan with his trophy from the National Superkids Soap box Derby 2016) 

This is our son Ryan, who was born 5 weeks premature and being our first child didn't quite know what to expect but by around five months of age we starting realizing Ryan was very tight fisted unable open his hands and was lacking trunk control.

We voiced our concerns for months and finally at the age of 11months he was diagnosed with moderate spastic cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs. Not only did he lack fine and gross motor skills but his speech was very delayed and the muscles in his jaw made eating to be very challenging.
Next came the seizures which started when he was just over a year old his body would jerk and he'd loose all control leaving him exhausted.

An MRI showed significant brain damage bilaterally due to a stroke in utero and we were told Ryan may never walk, talk and have many many challenges to over come.
This news nearly broke me, the hard realization my perfect baby that everyone secretly hopes for might not walk, might never talk.....I may never have him run to me with open arms and tell me he loves me.  
I remember breaking down at this point with uncontrollable tears. It felt like air was knocked out of me and I sat there not knowing what to do. 
For months I asked why me? What could I have done differently? If only I would of done this or that etc...

Quickly we were connected to the wonderful people at the five counties children's center here in Lindsay Ontario where we worked with great specialists in Occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy to try to improve Ryan's quality of life.  Slowly we started to see great progress and instead of focusing on what Ryan may never do my eyes finally opened to the thought of what he may be capable of doing.  
I put in the request for more days of physio therapy but due to the amount of children needing services this wasn't an option unfortunately. Therefore we started to seek additional programs to help Ryan. 

We came across a camp called The Ability Camp at the time, which is a camp that provided conductive education and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. These sessions consisted of conductive education five hours a day, five days a week, for five weeks with 40hrs of oxygen therapy. This program was quite costly not covered by the government and we unfortunately don't meet the requirements of any charity organizations.
Knowing that early intervention was key for increasing Ryan's ability to develope and achieve we decided to give it a shot therefore we started fundraisers and put together all our savings to make this possible.
Thanks to the love and generosity of our friends and family from the Lindsay Ontario  area as well as our home town in Espanola Ontario which have always been cheering on Ryan and our entire family for that matter had made attending these programs possible and will always be greatly appreciated! 

Starting this program Ryan was two years old with the development at around a five month old. He was bottle feed as well as on puréed foods which most the time was unsuccessful do to his gag reflex. We were leaning towards a feeding tube but decided to wait after his camp session. 
After Ryan's first session we saw dramatic improvement leading us to attend this camp two more times. Each time seeing great results.

Ryan is now seven and he has climb hills that no one ever thought possible....
He now can walk independently but due to multiple falls is encouraged to use his walker regularly especially for longer distances as his legs tire easily.
He eats practically anything and his gag reflex is completely gone!!
He can write a little, knows most his ABC's and numbers. 

He still struggles with speech but we are continually working on it with devices and speech therapy. 
I get multiple hugs and kisses a day and always cherish every single one! He's an incredible child and we are so very proud of him. He's such a blessing making me not only look at the world in a different way but also appreciating the little things in life. 
Hes one of the most loving, considerate, happy children I know with a smile that is infectious and brightens any room. He's a big brother to his brother Cameron and sister Rae-Lynn. Which adore him and include him in everything.


          (Ryan bottom, Rae-Lynn middle, Cameron top)

Ryan at this point doesn't see that he has a disability therefore tries absolutely everything and wants to be independent in every way. Which is a blessing as his outgoing personality makes challenges easier to overcome.

As parents we want to be able to give him as much independence as possible therefore we are seeking assistance to be able to purchase a modified vehicle allowing Ryan to enter and exit independently this is not only important to his growth and health but to myself as well as I currently lift him in and out and though he's slender he's getting taller and bigger making transfers more difficult on Ryan and myself.

                 (Cameron, myself(mom) and Ryan)


                    (Rae, Cary(dad), Cameron and Ryan)


Ryan has been chosen for the 3rd annual Kaydance Lane  Charity baseball tournament fundraiser and with all proceeds going towards purchasing a modified vehicle to give him more independence that he truly deserves. We hope that between the donations from this page and the tournament we will be able to provide this great opportunity for Ryan :) 

Thank you for your support its very appreciated!

Love the Vlaad Family