Help Nicole gain her independence and freedom.

"I just want to go to the lake, by myself, and read a book"
Nicole Hoggan~

Please help her get her dream chair!

Even though Nicole was born with spina bifida and life was sometimes a challenge her life drastically changed when she was 17.  My beautiful daughter Nicole, while undergoing a surgery, her spine was accidently punctured leaving her a parapalegic. Over the years she has had over 20 surgeries, spent countless days in the hospital and struggled with chronic pain, nausea, depression, and anxiety. Nicole has spent many years living an isolated existence due to her condition. She has worked so hard at trying to regain some semblance of a normal life. 
I, being her mom, have  dedicated my life to keeping my daughter healthy, taking care of any needs she is unable to manage, and being her biggest cheerleader.  
Last year Nicole was hit with another major setback. Nicole at 3 different times was so sick that the doctors had told me to prepare for the worst. Her kidneys had shut down, she was in stage 5 kidney failure, her heart was failing, her pancreas was shot, she had lost all function in her lower half of her body, she couldn't even wiggle a toe, the pain was unbearable. She had sufferred sepsis at one point,  and we are blessed beyond words to still have her with us. 

By some miracle, and a lot of focus on Nicoles health she has slowly recovered some movement, she is now in stage 4 kidney disease instead of 5, and  she has worked extremely hard to gain back her strength. Nicole does a regiment of daily exercises, she takes many vitamins and medications, and is on a kidney safe diet to maintain what is left of her kidney function. We hope with much attention and diligence we can keep her kidneys from failing further.
Nicole keeps herself busy, and happy, with a great group of book club friends. She loves to go to the mall, bowling, the movies, paint nights, and attend her monthly book club meetings. Nicole is hopeful to continue her education when she is stronger.  Nicole is an avid reader, she loves the lake, the cottage, campfires, and of course her dogs. Anyone who knows Nicole knows her dogs are her babies, they are her world.
Nicole struggles with independence, she does unfortunately need help with almost every area in her life. Nicole misses her freedom, she misses simple things in life such as going to a beach, walks in the woods, shopping without help, traveling, walking her dogs, just going somewhere alone.
Currently Nicole has a manuel chair, this chair while important to her has many limitations. Her chair can not go on grass, sand, dirt, it is a struggle to use it in the winter. Nicole can never be hands free unless another is pushing her, she can not manage to go uphill on her own, her hands freeze in the winter, she can not even carry a drink while out in her chair. Imagine not being able to go anywhere without depending on another person, imagine never being alone.
Recently Nicole had the oppurtunity to try a lightweight electric travel chair. This chair was comfortable, and had little limitations to where it could go. Nicole for the first time in many years would be able to go to the park, to the beach, a walk on a trail in the woods, head to the lake at her dads all by herself, carry a drink. This chair is compact enough for all doorways, light enough for me to put in a trunk.
From the moment Nicole got into that chair I saw in her complete happiness, I saw hope, I saw freedom.

  Nicole could maybe finally walk her dogs!


Now comes the hard part for me, I am asking for help to make this dream chair a reality for Nicole. We do not ask for help easily, I don't think we have ever reached out in all the years of Nicoles struggles. What I saw in Nicole while she was in this chair however has made me reach out to her friends, family, and community. Nicole needs this chair, she deserves to live a life with a small amount of independence. I want this gift of freedom for her so badly, and I know that those who love her also wish that for her.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and know that your contribution will go towards purchasing this chair, the extra batteries, accessories for the chair such as cup holders, ramps, basket, ect. Any contributions exceeding the cost of the chair and accessories will go into a fund to help cover the added expense relating to Nicoles kidney disease and disability.

Thank you,  thank you, thank you!

Hi everyone, I just want to add a bit of info. I am grateful to all the suggestions of receiving aid, for the chair, that we are hoping to get Nicole. This particular chair is a light weight travel chair, unfortunately we reached dead ends in being able to get this particular chair for Nicole funded, it is considered a luxury item.  Normal big bulky heavy electric chairs MAY have qualified for aid but not this lovely non intrusive chair. Unfortunately things ar not as easily attainable through goverment agencies and charities as most think. Sadly the demand for the disabled is higher then the help out there. There are so many items that are all out of pocket for the care of Nicole and even though I stay home as her full-time caregiver and we are a one income family, we have been blessed that we have been able to provide these things for Nicole.
The endeavour of attaining this chair however was an expense that would have definetly impacted our family and this is why we decided for the first time to reach out to all of you for support. This chair, in my opinion, will be so important to the quality of Nicoles life.

Once again I can not tell all of you how grateful we are for all of the support Nicole is having sent her way.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤