Help Alex buy a new wheelchair vehicle!

Please help us to raise funds to buy Alex a new vehicle to be independent in the community. We are Alex’s Mum and Dad, Miranda and John, and we are raising funds to help purchase Alex a new wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Alex loves to visit his extended family, friends and LOVES reptiles, animals and babies, which he’s prepared to travel far and wide to see.

It’s a huge expense to have a dedicated wheelchair vehicle that is suited to carrying Alex’s 180kg motorised wheelchair, and safely transport his oxygen equipment. We have some funds saved, but a variety of challenges in our family over the past three years has compromised our capacity to fund the purchase of the whole vehicle, so we are reaching out to our family, friends and our wider community to help!

Alex has a degenerative neurological condition that means he isn’t able to walk, talk, see, toilet or eat for himself. Yep, an almost 18 year old new born physically, he is PEG (tube) fed and requires regular oxygen support during seizures and sometimes just when he’s not feeling great.

He also has uncontrolled epilepsy, advanced respiratory disease and a host of other challenges that makes life very difficult for him. He has spent his whole life in and out of hospital, he also has multiple appointments each month to attend, so a car that fits his wheelchair and other equipment safely, and is available whenever he needs it is important! We have no public transport where we live, and using a regular car hasn’t been an option for more than 10 years because of the physical risk to Alex every time he is lifted in and out of the car.

He was born with this condition, but it doesn’t have a name - yes, it is that rare!

One thing Alex really loves is to travel near and far from home when he is well, he loves doing things with his family, but he also loves his independence, especially as an almost newly minted 18 year old!! Alex can’t do these things for himself, so he relies on his family and dedicated carers to make his adventures happen. And with those supports in place he needs a car to get him and his equipment around.

Alex’s very old wheelchair van needs to be replaced as it is now too old to be insured and doesn’t meet the transport needs for his motorised wheelchair and oxygen equipment.

Although we ordered a new car nearly 18 months ago, it looks like it’s still at least six months away. When it arrives it will need to be converted for Alex’s wheelchair and oxygen equipment! As a result, we are limping along using Alex’s old van for now. It has supported him so well, including a trip across the Nullabor earlier in 2023 for a precious trip to his cousins wedding, but it is just too old to keep going for much longer. The only reason we have got this far, outside of good luck, is that Alex’s Dad, John was an electrician and is very good at applying bandaids to keep it going.

The funds we are looking to raise will be used to contribute to the $58 000 cost of Alex’s new car, NDIS funding has been secured for the wheelchair conversion, but we have to buy either a suitable new or near new car to be able to use the funding to do the wheelchair conversion.

Alex and our family would be so appreciative of any contribution that you may be able to make so our boy can keep on travelling and experiencing ALL the adventures he wants.

THANK YOU!