Our son Kolby Draper is a true gift from God. He has always had a loving and giving heart. From the time he was born, he was faced with one health problem after another. We almost lost him several times as an infant. Through the years he has had complications requiring hospitalizations and surgeries. We never realized all these would be connected to something bigger. He began to start having loss of coordination, migraines, fevers, viruses, absence of reflexes and his balance became poor. He then developed tarsal coalition and neuromuscular scoliosis. Kolby's neurologist sent him for genetic testing. We were on our way to his physical therapy appointment in late 2010 and we recieved the dreaded phone call. They confirmed that Kolby had Friedreich's Ataxia. At that point it all made sense. Friedreich's Ataxia is a very rare life-threatening debilitating disease that causes progressive nerve damage to the nervous system. He also has many more symptoms of FA. It has been extremely hard watching our son progress to a wheelchair. It is a daily struggle for him but he is one of the strongest people we know. He recently went through his fifth spinal fusions and now has 4 rods and a bridge in his back. Up until now we have been able to carry his powerchair on a harmar lift on the back of our vehicle. Unfortunately two of those lifts have broken due to the weight of the chair. He also is not physically able to transfer as much as he used to. Wheelchair accessible vans are very costly and we only have one income due to Kolby's appointments, surgeries, therapies etc. We are not in the business of asking for help, but our son is in need. Anything would help and strickly go toward the van. Thank you and please keep him in prayer. Michael (Scott) and Tammy Draper.