Hi, my name is Amanda and ai am a single mom of a 7 year little girl who is my whole world. I am starting this GoFundMe to help with a Handicap Accessible van so Emma can use her new power chair and become more independent.

Here is our story:

Emma and her twin sister Brooklyn were born at 26 week 5 days. When my girls were 13 days old we noticed that Emma had a little dot on her cheek which was the beginning of a Infantile hemangioma, on this same day my sweet Brooklyn passed away due to complications from an infection, so we have always said that her sister kissed her goodbye when she was called to heaven. I knew from the beginning that there was a high possibility that the girls would have some sort of disability.

At a year old Emma was able to be finally diagnosed with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy. At 2 years old, Emma was able to get her first wheelchair. We started seeing a Pediatric Neurologist who specializes in Cerebral Palsy. She was then diagnosed again with Cerebral Palsy’s but this time they added Dystonia which explained a lot of the issues we don’t know about. While yes, we had almost the same diagnosis this helped us understand way more and how to help Emma better. For Emma to get the best treatment, all her doctors are about 2 hours from our hometown, except her Pediatrician and Therapist.

Therapy has helped my baby grow into wanting to do more and learn how to like use her hands to do everyday activities. They have shown her how to understand her body and how it can be done in different ways. Emma has and might always rely on a wheelchair rather than walking. This all being said Emma is in the process of getting a power wheelchair or as I call it “her new wheels” this is a huge stepping stone on her journey to becoming more independent. Her current manual wheelchair is about 100lbs and she has outgrown it. Therapy is in the process of approval for a new power wheelchair chair will be more than 300lbs. 

I am needing now to purchase a handicap accessible van as I will not be able to lift Emma’s new power chair. These vans are very expensive.

I appreciate any help anyone is willing to give to help Emma’s independence.