Safety Fencing For Weston

My sister, Ali, and brother in law, Pat, reside in Massachusetts, and they have a 3 year son, Weston, who is very medically complex and followed by about 20 different departments at Boston Children's Hospital. He is being researched by the National Institute of Health Undiagnosed Diseases Network at the Harvard site. He has an undiagnosed genetic disease that has not been discovered yet. He is the only one in the world with this undiagnosed genetic disease. He also has a rare eye disease. He has brain abnormalities, epilepsy, weakness to his left side of his body, hypothyroidism, a rare eye condition where his 4th nerve is paralyzed, an inner ear malformation, a nose malformation, and he has Cortical visual impairment, so he is legally blind. He is having his 3rd eye surgery in March, at only 3 years old. He is non-verbal, and he is globally developmentally delayed. Weston is in Pediatric Palliative Care, Department of Developmental Services, DPH Care Coordination, and Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.

During the beginning of the Pandemic, something amazing happened, and Weston learned to walk. Ali and Pat believe that him having his more than 300 medical appointments that year turn mostly to virtual due to the state of the world, it allowed him to be home and develop more. Currently, he is running, and running towards the street. He falls often, does not have great balance, but he is running! We are all beyond thrilled and happy that he has developed this skill, and so is Weston. It's given all of us such great joy. Unfortunately, Weston and his parents live on a rather busy street, and with Weston being legally blind, cognitively impaired, and now running, and running towards the street, his care team is concerned about his safety, and Ali and Pat have been looking into funding to gate off their driveway and fence in part of their yard, to keep him safe. This is a significant unexpected financial cost that Ali and Pat need help with. In order for this to work, they would need our 32 foot wide motorized driveway gate and front yard fencing. The multiple quotes they have received are extremely high due to Covid and the cost of materials continually increasing. This project would need a fencing company, a gate company, an electrician, and possibly a landscaper to install all of the necessary pieces.

Ali and Pat have reached out to Westford Department of Transportation, and requested a blind child sign, which was recently installed on their street. They have reached out to Westford Police Department and had them install speed traps, but they had to remove it after a few months to have it rotate to other parts of town. They had a vehicle crash into their front yard last summer, which scared all of us. What if Weston had been playing in the front yard we all thought to ourselves. Thankfully he wasn't, but now that he is running and cognitively not understanding where not to go, we all feel it is important for his safety to have him fenced in, as so do his doctors. He is never alone outside, or inside for that matter, but sometimes in a split second he just runs away. Ali and Pat have reached out to their insurance company to determine if gates and fencing would be partially covered due to Weston’s medical conditions, but this type of home modification is not covered. Weston had an evaluation done by Regional Evaluation and Assessment for Community Habilitation (REACH), and they recommended a fence and driveway gate as well, and to try and find funding for it.

Pat has had to take off numerous days of work to care for Weston over the past 3.5 years due to his multiple medical complexities and hospital appointments. Weston has weekly therapies and hospital appointments. Therefore, Pat has had to work a lot less than he used to work prior to having Weston, which has reduced his income significantly.

If you would like to help with this project of keeping Weston safe by gating off his driveway and fencing in his front yard, please donate. Any amount is appreciated. This safety fencing and driveway gate would benefit only Weston, as Ali and Pat do not have any other children, dogs, or any outdoor pets that would benefit from this. Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

With love,

Tory and Steve-Weston’s Auntie and Uncle