Wheels for Will
Donation protected
Hi, I’m Chad Lammerding and I'd like to tell you about my younger brother Will. Now 19 years old, Will was born with an extremely rare genetic condition called Mosaic Trisomy 8, this condition affects both his mental and physical capabilities. He isn’t able to talk, walk, speak and is fed by a g-tube. Despite these limitations, he's bright and loves being with people. Because of these limitations, it can be extremely frustrating, both for he and his family. When in pain he can't say “My stomach hurts” or “I have a bad headache.” When Will gets frustrated which is frequent, it often result in SIB/self injurious behavior, hitting his head on just about anything or continuously punch himself in the face.
Given the severity of Will's health issues we take him to the doctors very frequently - suffice to say, this has become incredibly difficult and at times impossible. At 6 feet tall, the act of moving him from wheelchair to car requires 2 strong people. Having hypotonia (low muscle mass) makes him nearly all dead weight. Once muscled into the back seat of my mom’s small SUV the real difficulties begin. Will can get extremely frustrated while in the car, he will often hit his head on the door or unbuckle his seat belt and start aggressively kicking my moms seat as she is driving. This is obviously extremely unsafe for both Will and the driver.
Our goal of this fundraiser is to raise $35,000 so we can purchase a specially equipped Sprinter van built to accommodate Will and his wheelchair. The van will enable us to roll Will into the car while he is safely secured in in his wheelchair. Having this space will create a much safer driving condition for both Will and my mom.
Will enjoys the outdoors, and having a vehicle like this will open up many opportunities that simply aren't available to him currently. Thanks so much for your support - Chad.
Below is an example of the type of van of we're looking at.
Given the severity of Will's health issues we take him to the doctors very frequently - suffice to say, this has become incredibly difficult and at times impossible. At 6 feet tall, the act of moving him from wheelchair to car requires 2 strong people. Having hypotonia (low muscle mass) makes him nearly all dead weight. Once muscled into the back seat of my mom’s small SUV the real difficulties begin. Will can get extremely frustrated while in the car, he will often hit his head on the door or unbuckle his seat belt and start aggressively kicking my moms seat as she is driving. This is obviously extremely unsafe for both Will and the driver.
Our goal of this fundraiser is to raise $35,000 so we can purchase a specially equipped Sprinter van built to accommodate Will and his wheelchair. The van will enable us to roll Will into the car while he is safely secured in in his wheelchair. Having this space will create a much safer driving condition for both Will and my mom.
Will enjoys the outdoors, and having a vehicle like this will open up many opportunities that simply aren't available to him currently. Thanks so much for your support - Chad.
Below is an example of the type of van of we're looking at.
Organizer
Chad Lammerding
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA