Caitlin's Sand Rider Wheelchair

Hello my name is Robbie D'Hondt and after learning recently that my dear friend was able to experience something that we all take for granted I decided to get permission from Caitlin and her family to start a gofundme fund raiser. They agreed and together Caitlin and I are writing this story.
 
My name is Caitlin Pelej! I was born with numerous conditioins from a rare syndrome that have made my life special, I require special things to live my life with joy and happiness. The best gift of my life is my mother who has made sure I live my best life with all my special needs. When I was born I was not supposed to live very long and through an amazing family, friends and team of Doctor's I have grown into my twenties. I needed a kidney transplant to survive! Thankfully my mother was able to give me the gift of life yet again. I sit here today with life and my mothers kidney as part of my body for the last 25 years! Thank you mom. I am unable to walk and my mother is my driver, my wheelchair driver, my emotional driver and my driver in everything you could possibly imagine. Throughout my life I have lost the gift of sight. Others have become my eyes. Thankfully I had sight so I can remember what a rose looks like, the beach, my family, friends and all that is beautiful. I do have the gift of knowing what my favorite things look like from memory. I have a special life, everything I do requires special equipment and planning. The cost of living this way is always an expense and sometimes unaffordable. One of my favorite actvites is going to the beach. Few beaches are accesible with a regular wheelchair as the wheels bog down into the sand and the salt water will ruin my daily use wheelchair. I was at the beach with my mother recently and there was an event going on. They had wheelchairs that roll with ease over the sand and are salt water safe!! You can not imagine my excitement! I felt the ocean again! It had been seven years since I have been able to put my feet in the water. I can not safely go in the ocean without a water safe wheelchair. This opened up a new option for me. The beach is a place for me to feel the fresh air, feel the warmth of the sun, enjoy my family, listen to the waves rolling in and feel some freedom. I listen to music, knitt, talk with my family and enjoy a day that is filled with fun and low cost. Being in the water wheelchair gave me an entirely new feeling with my mother (my life driver) who pushed me over the sand and into the water, I was overcome with joy! So thankful that I was able to borrow the water wheelchair. We left the beach dreaming of having a beach wheelchair and I want this dream to come true. It will make my life easier and also for my mother who struggles with the sand to get me on the beach. I live this life with special needs and I make the best of it. I am an artist, singer, enjoy plays, movies, always up for a social event and fun. I look at life from a blessings point of view. The gift of having a wheelchair that can handle the sand and water will help my mother in the task of our beach adventures and make my beach days a breeze. Living in California we have great weather most of the year and we go to the beach a couple times a week. I am very blessed to have an angel on earth to go above and beyond to get me wherever I need to go. This wheelchair would be a dream come true. Thank you for reading my story it means the world to me. 
Caitlin