Hi, my name is Beke.

I am a 45 year old, wife and mum of two, born and raised in Australia and this is the first time I have ever decided to start a GoFundMe. I decided to swallow my pride and give it a go.

My story starts in 1989.

When I was 8 years old, I received a neck injury called an Atlantoaxial Rotation Fixation, during a normal procedure of grommets insertion of the ears. An AARF is where the c1 and c2 parts of the spine are twisted out of place and locked into each other. In my case, the vertebrae was putting so much pressure on my spinal cord, that I lost a lot of physical functioning on one side of my body, needing a wheelchair. We have no real idea how this happened, but we assumed that they were too rough with my head while I was under anaesthesia.

I was rushed to Brisbane Childrens Hospital just in time, where they manipulated my neck back into place, and I wore a minerva cast on the upper half of my body and around my head while I healed.

The procedure was a "success", however, we were unsure what lay in the future for me and my neck and back. They had told us, that if it had been left too late, I would have become a quadriplegic.

Over the next 36 years, I've had nerve issues, regular crippling back spasms, a fracture in my L5 that came out of nowhere, I developed arthritis in the spine at 10, and the list goes on.

I missed a lot of my education growing up and then as an adult, I became an unreliable and undesirable worker. I have always tried to stay positive but this all has made a massive impact on my self esteem, mental health and my skill sets.

Now at 45, despite trying my hardest to be physical (gentle exercise, yoga etc) and keeping up with family responsibilities, I am now at the point where my mobility is at it's worse.

I currently have arthritis in various parts of the spine, including my neck, pars defects in my L5, spinal stenosis in my L5, nerve issues in my entire body and other things we are trying to work out.

We are currently looking into Fibromyalgia and/or Multiple Sclerosis, as my symptoms cover both.

I am losing my balance, my strength and everyday tasks are becoming limited.

My family and I are all neurodiverse, and my lovely husband is a piano teacher and accompanist who also struggles with disabilities, but different to mine. He works hard for our family to stay on top of our bills as much as possible.

I am now a facepainter, working for myself for about 9 hrs a week. I love facepainting as I get to put a smile on lots of people's faces in my town. I sit while I paint, as I can't stand for more than a few minutes at a time, but I hope to paint for as long as I can.

I am able to walk, my legs do move, however everyday activities are painful. Doing everyday things is getting very hard, and quality of life isn't great.

Getting around town or doing food shopping is very paintfull, and my legs often buckle under me. In January I had a fall, tearing some ligaments around my ankle, and I believe it happened because I lost my balance due to my nerve issues. I have recently bought a $100 wheeled walker to see if it would help, but it's not enough and the pain is crippling.

I am trying GoFundMe to help raise funds to buy a reasonable electric wheelchair, as manual chairs put too much strain on my neck, shoulders and arms.

I don't need state of the art, but something foldable, comfortable and reliable.

I have been trying to save, but it's a long process, and anything here adds up, and would mean more to me than you might possibly imagine. I feel a bit strange coming to GoFundMe, but I thought it was worth a try. I have tried to give to the community over the years, whether it's a few dollars here and there to different charities, given free face paints, or even just a listening ear and an open mind.

My goal is $5,000, but I have seen chairs for less. I have turned on GoFundMe's automated goals as that is what was suggested. Any left over money will go to physical therapy etc.

So who knows maybe someone will see my story.