Join Heidi's Fight: Secure a Wheelchair Van

I think I may have found a van for a very good price. I need someone to look at it for me. It’s in Buffalo if anyone could help me out with that it would be greatly appreciated. Also, I have 2700 raised so I gotta keep raising more so I can get this van again. Any type of donation would be appreciated. Getting this van would make my life so much easier and my parents. Is very painful to be lifted into the van by somebody.

My name is Heidi Jankowiak. I was recently diagnosed with CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy). To put it in easier terms, it's basically where my nerves stopped working.

It all started in July 2023. I was having numbness and tingling in my hands, feet, and face, and it slowly progressed. By October, I was walking but kept falling. Then in November, I started using a walker. In the beginning of December, I was in a wheelchair. I spent a week in Olean General Hospital, then was sent home with no treatment. On December 14, 2023, I went to my neurologist, and she sent me to Buffalo General Hospital. I started off doing some rehab, and then the disease went into my respiratory system, so I was having a hard time breathing. They intubated me, and I was out of it for probably a month. Then they put the trach in, and I had that in for about eight months. I was in Buffalo General for 10 months altogether, and then I went to the nursing home for two months. I came home on December 5, 2024.

I am now home with 24-hour care. I am in a hospital bed and have several devices to help me move around. I also have a home health aide, and I have physical and occupational therapy that comes in. My family helps me. My legs, at this point, still do nothing; there's no sign of life in my legs. My arms have been making progress.

I am in desperate need of a wheelchair-accessible van. It's hard to get into any vehicles without having my oldest son here to pick me up and put me in, and he's not always here. I do use medical transportation, but it's hard to depend on them. A lot of times they're late, and then I'm late for my appointments and have to reschedule them.

My family has paid a lot of money for an addition to the house so I can have my own room downstairs and a bathroom, and they put in a wheelchair ramp. They have also been taking care of my kids as I have not been working. I am looking for help to get this wheelchair van. I would like to take a little bit of the weight off my parents' shoulders. Any type of assistance would be truly appreciated. Thank you. The pictures below show the progress i have made in a year.