Helping Mr. Ritchie’s Son With Cerebral Palsey

The community of Martin’s Landing is lucky to have neighborhood pools where friends can enjoy the summer together and create memories. This year, we have been further blessed by the presence of one new lifeguard in particular— a man we all know as “Mr. Ritchie”. Not only does Mr. Ritchie make sure that everyone follows the rules of the pool, he always has a charming smile on his face— children and parents of all ages adore him. You will often see him encouraging younger swimmers to feel comfortable as they learn to explore the deep end or take their first jump off the diving board. He engages with the neighborhood kids in a way no one has before and his impact on Martin’s Landing (and our summertime memories) is undeniable. Early on this season, we learned (by chance)  of Mr. Ritchie’s 9 year old son, Andre Kemar Ritchie, who struggles with Cerebral Palsy. CP is a disorder which greatly impacts those afflicted and their families. For more information about CP, click here (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cerebral-palsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20353999)Andre and his brothers are still in Jamaica with their grandmother while Mr. Ritchie works here as a lifeguard. We learned about his son when Mr. Ritchie watched a family leaving the pool in a chair similar to what his son needs— Andre requires a special chair to move around and is outgrowing his current chair. We asked Mr. Ritchie to give us some information about Andre and why he needed a new chair. Here is what he gave us in his own words:“Andre Kemar Ritchie was born on May 10, 2010. His mom had complications with him when she was delivering him to the nurse. Andre was a 10 lb. baby who should have gotten a c-section, but didn’t. The nurse made his mother deliver him the same way with that small passage to come true. So that is what caused the Cerebral Palsy, lack of oxygen to the brain.“Andre is not potty trained because of his condition. He doesn’t know how to eat, he only can eat liquid food. He is still in pampers. His real help is at St. Jude’s or Shriners for Special Kids. This chair will help him a lot because the chair that he has is getting small and he is growing. These nice chairs are here, not in Jamaica.”His story struck us both deeply and the more we found about Mr. Ritchie’s dedication and concern for his son, the more we wanted to find a way to help. Mr. Ritchie not only makes sure the people at the pool are safe, but he is our sentinel— he is poolside seven days a week for 12 hours a day, doing all that he can for his family.After talking to many members of the Martin’s Landing community, we have learned there is an overwhelming desire to want to help Mr. Ritchie and his son obtain the needed chair. With this GoFundMe we hope to facilitate a way for those who would like to help with the cause. Thank you for your time and love!