Air Force (OEF) Veteran Needs Wheelchair Van

My name is Kathy Childress. My son Tony is a 35-year-old Air Force veteran. In 2017, Tony was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. In five years, I have watched my beautiful young man go from an active, carefree adult to a non-ambulatory, wheelchair-bound victim of MS. I am taking the advice of Tony's neurological team and other veteran organizations and starting an account on Tony's behalf.

Asking for help is difficult, but I am putting my child's needs above my pride. I am a single mom, trying to do the very best for my son, who is my world. Unfortunately, I cannot afford a wheelchair-accessible van, and that is what Tony needs to attend necessary neurology and physical therapy appointments with Roger C. Peace. Tony has exhausted what the physical therapist can do in our home without having the professional equipment to aid his progress.

Most importantly, due to this debilitating neurological disease, my child has no quality of life. He cannot leave our home without immense difficulty. He requires another person to help move him into his wheelchair and in and out of our car. Several times, we have had help from strangers, but most of the time it is Tony and I trying to do this safely. We have fallen several times trying to get in and out of the car. This action must be repeated multiple times for every outing. It is so exhausting and challenging.

Before Tony's illness, one of his favorite things was going to a movie. He loved movies so much that he got a job working at the movie theatre. Even though Tony can no longer see the movie screen, he loves going to the theatre. I want more than anything for Tony to be able to go to the movies occasionally or wheel around the park on a nice day. Anything to add quality to his life.

Part of Tony's MS causes him terrible vertigo. He experiences dizziness and nausea when riding in a vehicle. As a result of the nausea and fatigue the MS causes, many appointments have had to be canceled because Tony cannot tolerate the transitions needed to get to the appointments. We hope we can get to more appointments (and maybe a movie) by having a wheelchair-accessible van, requiring fewer transfers.

Thank you for reading my request. I appreciate anything you can do to help my wonderful Tony.