Growing with Jayden

It's been seven years since I last updated you on Jayden's fight for

independence!

The powerchair that so many of you donated to fund has been a life changer.

Jayden is now almost 13 years old! He has grown so much, and has been able to do so many more things than he would have if he didn't have that power chair. It has become the highlight of Halloween, where the chair is now part of his costume in the coolest way you can imagine.

Additionally, the funds raised to send him to Panama for stem cell treatment

was life changing as well. The treatment completely rebooted his immune

system and he rarely gets sick anymore, additionally he was able to gain vast

improvement in the use of his right hand and increased his mathematics and

reading scores in school to nearly grade level the year he had it done!

Because of your generousity, Jayden has been able to get around most places

without needing someone to carry him or push him- with one major exception-

his own house.

Jayden is now over five feet tall and almost 100 lbs! It is impossible for him

to get through doors on his own, he can't get through the door to the back

deck to enjoy a meal outside with his family without someone carrying him and

it has become exceedingly difficult for his parents to manually transfer him

because of how much he has grown. Because of this, he is confined to certain

areas of the house, all on one floor. What's worse, he no longer fits in the

only shower he has access to, as the bathroom was never made to be

handicap-accessible. This is only a few of the issues they are currently

facing, simply because he's a growing boy!

The powerchair is a wonderful blessing inside when doorways are wide enough,

and surfaces are flat enough to accommodate it, but without some major

modifications, he is simply outgrowing what few areas of the house he can

access.

Jayden loves camping, fishing and all things outdoors- another part of our

goal is to help upgrade his outdoor stroller-style chair to one that he

actually fits in! His current chair is several sizes too small and held

together with duct-tape.

They are also in need of a new handicap-accessible van. Once again, it has served them well- but Jayden isn't getting any smaller! Their current vehicle is a smaller modification, and is getting to the point where Jayden is just too big to fit safely.

We recently thought that the bathroom was going to be taken care of by a local contractor. About a year ago, Josh was selected as the beneficiary of a free bathroom remodel- a charity in town choses one deserving family per year, and that year they wanted to do it for a military family. They chose Josh! This company promised them a FREE handicap-accessible bathroom remodel... and then they disappeared. They stopped answering phone calls, emails and texts. They deleted their Facebook page. Gone. Josh and his family were left with nothing but a broken promise.

Our goal is to help Josh and Sarah modify their house (bathroom and doorways) to be more accessible for a constantly growing Jayden, for a new outdoor wheelchair so that Jayden can do what he loves doing most, and a new van that is safer for him to travel.

Thank you for considering and for sharing!