Empower Jack's Dream of Independence

My name is Mattie, and I am fundraising to help my son get intensive therapy at NAPA Center in Waltham, MA.

On December 27th 2016, Jack was born premature at 29 weeks + 5 days at Tufts Hospital Boston due to a birth defect of duodenal atresia annular pancreas, and had a surgery at 3 days old to repair the blockage.

While in the NICU recovering from surgery, he had an ultrasound of his brain, and was diagnosed with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), which is a brain injury affecting the white matter in his brain. PVL is common in premature babies and are typically later diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP).

After 8 weeks, Jack graduated from the NICU, and has been receiving PT, OT services ever since. Jack received his official CP diagnosis at 18 months old, and has had multiple surgeries and several rounds of Botox injections to help combat the muscle spasticity and tightness.

Today, Jack is a typical 7 year old little boy, attending a local public school where he receives PT and OT services in school, along with PT and OT services once a week at Spaulding Center for Children in Sandwich, MA.

Jack is incredibly smart, being able to read above his grade level, and is the one of the sweetest and kind hearted boys you'll ever meet. As he grows up, he's starting to realize how different he is than his peers and has expressed many times that he really wants to "be like everyone else."

Jack has utilized a wheelchair and a gait trainer since the age of 2 and wants to ditch them and upgrade to arm crutches and be more independent from my care. Jack is unable balance without assistance, or successfully use his walker without guidance, and can only army crawl when not using equipment.

I want to help him to be more like his peers and have the independence he so desperately wants. In order to help him succeed, I need YOUR help to get him to this intensive therapy center.

Through gracious donors and help from family, we've reached the goal of $1000 for the deposit, which officially holds his spot to attend the NAPA Center!!

I am asking for further assistance to help offset the costs of travel to Waltham. It is approximately 90 miles away and a 1.5 hour drive from our house--each way! We will make this drive 5 days a week, Monday-Friday starting August 19th through September 6th.

NAPA Center specializes in children as young as 10 months old through young adulthood with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders, to realize their full developmental potential through combination of PT, OT, and other therapies, all of which are uniquely designed for each child. Jack will receive 3 hours of therapy a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks.

Direct quote from the NAPA website, "NAPA therapists create a customized program for each patient that varies in time, duration, intensity, and tools used. Children often advance to the next developmental skill or higher during the three-week program. For example, if a child is using a walker, it is not uncommon for them to gain the strength, balance and ability to walk with crutches."

This intensive therapy aligns with Jack's dreams of independence and any help we may receive will help him realize his dream of being "just like everyone else."

Please message me if you have any more questions about NAPA and Jack.

Thank you to everyone who has donated thus far!! Please share this as we need all of the help we can get for Jack!