Help Meghan and Ryan Get a Wheelchair Van

Hello friends, family and community. My name is Rita, and I am the best friend of Meghan Ann Johnson. We have been best friends for 46 years, so, in reality she is the closest thing I have ever had to a sister. I consider her my family. If you know Meghan, you know her story is devestating and at the same time tells the tale of resilience, bravery, and honestly, Miracles. The Miracle of Meghan and Ryan's survival was the very first miracle I ever witnessed on earth.

It all started July 25, 2010 in the early morning hours. Meghan at the time was engaged to her fiance Rick, and they were expecting their first child after many years of trying. Everything was going well in this pregnancy, she had made it to the 2nd trimester and was approaching the third. She was 25 weeks and 4 days, when the first tragedy struck. According to Rick, he awoke very early in the morning, and Meghan complained she was itchy, but nothing more. He went downstairs to make breakfast and fell asleep again on the couch. By 8am, he hadn't heard Meghan stir, so he went upstairs to check on her. Sadly what he found was an unresponsive partner, who was blue from the neck up. Immediately, he called 911, who responded on the scene, and began life saving interventions. Meghan was life flighted by helicopter to Temple University Hospital, where they quickly diagnosed her with a hemorragic stroke (cause of origin was an AVM, which is like an anurysm). Since she was crashing, they made the immediate decision to provide an emergency C-Section. At that moment Ryan was born, and thus began his miracle of life. They quickly rescucitated him and by emergency vehicle transported him to Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, where he remained for more than 3 months. He had a long road ahead of him, and he is still on that road. As a likely result of Meghan's Traumatic Brain Injury, Ryan was diagnosed from Cerebral Palsy. In addition to his extreme prematurity, he was VERY touch and go for months, and needed many surgeries and interventions, including a shunt in his own brain, that has had to be readjusted many times over the years as he grew.

Meghan, on the otherhand had no brain activity and was in a medically induced coma and on life support for the first week of Ryan's life. The family was struggling to decide how to proceed with care, and was losing all hope. MIRACUOUSLY (I was there, and I witnessed it), Meghan began having spontaneous brain activity and was eventually awakened from her Coma. She remained in the hospital for another 4 months, and then was transfered to Moss Rehab Center where she needed another almost 6 months of rehabilitation. When Meghan woke up she had complete defecits, and was tube fed. She had to learn how to regain speech, strength, walking, memory loss (she hadn't even remembered being pregnant, giving birth, any of the people in her life or any of the events) and she did not meet her son for the first time until he was 3 months old. But because Meghan is the strongest person I know, and literally refused to die or give-up, she made what is considered a full recovery. Although she still has defecits from her TBI (she cannot work, personality changes, emotional changes, and memory is still a persistant problem), she has come a long, long, way and has been the true picture of resilience.

As if this wasn't tragedy ENOUGH, her fiance Rick, suddenly and tragically suffered a brain stem stroke when Ryan was just 3 years old. It was totally unexpected, and he was their main caretaker and provider while Meghan and Ryan recovered from their injuries. After the stroke, Rick was trageically diagnosed with "Locked In Syndrome". His mental capacities were fully in tact, but he was completely paralyzed except for the blinking of his eyes. He lived that way for another few months, but sadly he did succomb to his injuries and died in 2014.

At this point the future WAS SO uncertain for Meghan ad Ryan. No one was sure if she was able to become independent, would be able to care for her profoundly disabled son, and or if she would have the means to fully heal while providing the care he needed as well. Not only did she do just those things, but she far surpassed everyones expectations and the limitations set upon her, and she was determined not only to completely heal as much as possible, but to provide the utmost of care to her son.

As Ryan grew, he needed many more orthopedic surgeries (total of 12 in his 14 years), and ironically he is in surgery at this moment to correct his synovial joint where his humerous meets his radial bone (elbow) for some serious edema he has been experiencing as well as pain and infection. Along the way, Ryan has endured many challenges with eating, breathing, and has more recently been diagnosed with profound autism. But did Meghan let that discourage her? NO! She has enrolled him in one of the most amazing schools in Philadelphia for him called The Widener School, and she seeks out every single advanced form of therapy she can find on him, on a limited fixed income and with Medecaid and SNAP benefits, which will surely be cut back grossly for them, next year.

It has always been Meghan's dream to get Ryan to walk, and while he has made intense and great progress over the years, he is still dependent on his wheel chair outside of home or a therapy environment. Meanwhile, Meghan has also continued therapy herself and was approved for driving over 10 years ago. However on her fixed income, she has not been able to afford an accessible van that will allow her to take Ryan to school and to his many weekly therapy appointments, and surgeries. IF YOU CAN ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT, her main mode of transportation is public transport in a huge and overwhelming city like Philadelphia. Many in the neighnorhood see Meghan walking back and forth with Ryan in to the coffee shop, Library, bowling alley, wherever she can get him to, to give him the most enriched life possible. And if you ever had the privilege to know Ryan, despite his physical limitations, he is the most happy, sweetest, loving, caring person. This is the true miracle. That in all of this trauma and survival, neither one of their spirits has been detered, and I have NEVER seen an advocate for their child, like I have seen in Meghan, and this is after she suffered a TBI that almost ended her life.

So, now Ryan is almost 15, and of course he is big and heavy as any 15 year old boy would be. And Meghan is getting older (sorry Meg! Haa!) and yes, it's getting harder to push him around, and her him on and off the bus, and up and own the stairs of her home. Thankfully through a Gofundme campain we did several years back when someone stole his wheelchair (YES, can you BELIEVE THAT??) we were able to raise funds to get a wheelchair replaced, as well as some upgrades to her home, including a wheelchair ramp, and stair lift.

But now is the time to upgrade their life by giving Ryan a NEW set of wheels. With a wheelchair van, Ryan can go even further for more intensive therapies, social life, and schooling, and Meghan won't have to worry about his future getting around as much in public transportation which can be very dangerous to the vulnerable in a large city.

So, if you've read this far, and you're at all moved to give - first I thank you for your interest and empathy to 2 of my family members who are of great importance to me and many others, but also, to continue to support Ryan, who is an icon of strength for the disabled body community as well as the autistic community. To know this kid, is simply to love him. Although many, many people have put limitations on him (he shouldn't travel, he shouldn't go to school so far away, etc etc), Meghan has been fearless in knowing that her son can DO ANYTHING he wants to do, and that has been the absolute bravest thing I have ever witnessed.

Consider a donation towards this cause. No one deserves it more than them. And while Meghan has found another great partner and father figure for Ryan, in Danny, they still struggle to meet the medical needs of their growing boy. Can we rally?