Generator for Tony


Forty-five years ago, Tony (Anthony) Ferraro entered the world as your typical bouncing baby boy. Life was good until he was about six years old, when he started having trouble standing. His parents took him to several doctors and he was eventually diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a fatally progressive disease. With not expecting him to live past twenty years - Tony has far exceeded expectations. He is an extremely intelligent and charismatic individual. He LOVES his computer and even received a Bachelors in Computer Sciences from Kent State University. Over the years, as the doctors predicted, he had progressively gotten worse and is now completely dependent upon others for every part of his daily life. He is also wheelchair and vent dependent; he cannot breathe on his own without a ventilator.

Tony shares his life with his wife, Jamie, their two-purring fur children, Thomas Michael & Meow-Mixa, and their feathered son, Sagan. Tony and Jamie met online twelve years ago and immediately connected. They’ve now been married for 10 years. They are two of my best friends. They are one of the sweetest couples I have ever known. Jamie is so giving and selfless, others will ALWAYS come first. As for Tony, well – Tony is amazing. I love having our deep intellectual conversations or arguing about which superhero is supreme.

A mere annoyance to the rest of us, such as a power outage, is a life-threatening situation for Tony. Tony’s life is 100% dependent on machines. When the power goes out, he runs on battery reserve, and when those batteries die… well, it wouldn’t be a good situation. The other night the power went out in the surrounding area of Tony and Jamie’s house. I get a call from Jamie, a little later than usual. She was concerned because the power had gone out and AEP didn’t anticipate it coming back on until about 2AM. She was calling to see if I was home so she could bring Tony over to my garage and plug him in. I know that sounds crass, but that is the reality of the situation. Why the garage? It is basically impossible to get into anyone else’s home with Tony’s wheelchair unless you have the right kind of ramp equipment (this issue can extend to some businesses as well). It was in the 20’s that evening/early morning! Luckily, they found a warmer alternative.

There are a lot of struggles that Jamie and Tony contend with. Having to vacate your home in the middle of the night to try and find power so you don’t worry about being able to breathe shouldn’t have to be one of them. I am asking for your help. I would like to try to raise enough money to be able to purchase a generator to facilitate Tony’s life support when there is a sudden unexpected power outage or other emergencies.

Thank you,
Cassie Prater


The specifics:

My preliminary findings are coming up with something similar to a Generac 20KW Home BackUp Generator.

My name is Cassie Prater. Tony and Jamie are very dear friends of mine. I have known them for many years.

The funds will be officially withdrawn when we find a suitable generator for purchase. Tony and Jamie will be with me every step of the way during that process. Any remaining funds will be utilized to prepare their home for the addition of a generator and potential upkeep.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!