Kyle’s Story from his mother

Kyle was born on February 1st, 1994, with no indications that he would be anything but healthy.

Kyle is the second born of four sons. Derek is Kyle’s older brother, and Nathan and Caleb are his younger brothers.

Kyle was born with bilateral club foot, which required weekly serial casting of both feet and calves and surgery before he was 1 year old.

Kyle was failure to thrive and developmentally delayed. He started weekly physical, occupational, and speech therapy when he was just months old. Kyle was not ever expected to walk or talk.

When Kyle was about a year and a half old, he was finally diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. We began a journey of conventional and unconventional treatments. When Kyle was about 3 years old, he began riding horses for physical therapy (hippo-therapy) and eventually became involved in yearly horse shows.

Kyle learned to talk and walk, first with quad canes and then independently. Kyle has never been able to walk long distances. Eventually, we got Kyle a mobility scooter to go long distances at the mall, grocery shopping, Six Flags Great America, Wisconsin State Fair, walks in forest preserves, etc.

Growing up, Kyle always tried to do everything his brothers were doing (Go Kart racing, roller skating, swimming, tricycle and bicycle riding, skiing) adapted to his own abilities.

When Kyle was 19 years old, he began having seizures, which have been treated with medications and a VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulator) device implanted in his chest with a wire around the vagus nerve in his neck, which emits signals to control seizures. Periodically, Kyle needs surgery to replace the battery in his chest.

Kyle is 30 years old, but mentally about 7 years old. He cannot read, does not understand time, math, or money. He can copy writing but cannot write on his own. When Kyle was 27, he began living in a State Operated Developmental Facility, which is less than 2 miles from our home. Kyle spends most weekends with us.

Kyle is his brothers’ (Derek and Nathan) biggest racing fan! Kyle’s brothers race in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Kyle is an important member of their race teams. The mobility scooter we have is intended for indoors and does not have the proper ground clearance or ability to handle driving in gravel and the uneven terrain typical of most race track pit areas.

We are fundraising to get Kyle a new mobility scooter that can handle outdoor terrains, so he can continue to support his brothers at their races and enjoy outdoor activities.

Thank you for your consideration,

Gail D. Crane

The Scope of this fund raiser is for an all-terrain scooter, a lift and a cover to transport it in our van when we are not using the racing trailer, a race car seat for kyle to sit in on the scooter, and materials for a handicapped ramp (which his father and brothers could build) for our home.