Support Hazel's Journey to Comfort and Mobility

Hello everyone! Hazel is a 10 year old little girl who just so happens to have Down syndrome. :) Hazels life since birth, has not been easy. She has had to fight to survive on so many occasions. She has lived her whole life in and out of the hospital. She has undergone surgery after surgery, procedure after procedure and has many debilitating diagnoses. Some of these diagnoses include; Down syndrome, Autism, Restrictive Lung Disease, Obstructive Lung Disease, Respiratory Failure, Severe Scoliosis, Bilateral Hip Sublexations, Osteopenia, etc. Her lung disease is progressive, which means her disease will only get worse as time goes on. She is severely immunocompromised and I never know if the next time she gets sick, is the time that her body and lungs, will eventually give out.

Hazel has never been able to walk. Hazel has been wheelchair bound since she was a year old. Due to her low muscle tone from having Down Syndrome and her severe medical complexities, she will be wheelchair bound for the rest of her life.

Hazel has a trach(permanent breathing tube in her neck) and is ventilator dependent when she sleeps or naps. Her body often forgets to tell itself to breathe which makes things very complicated for her, especially while sleeping.

Hazel received a new wheelchair at the beginning of this year. Due to her size and the type of wheelchair she requires due to all her medical equipment, her wheelchair does not fold down or collapse and it is very heavy, as is Hazel and will only continue to grow as she ages. She is almost too big for me to lift and carry on my own to even get her in and out of a car seat to her wheelchair.

Hazel has been admitted into Helen Devos Children’s Hospital since January 2024. We are currently stuck waiting to take her home until we have at least 5 nights a week of home nursing, since she has to be monitored 24/7 for her safety.

Currently, I have a van that is not equipped to meet her needs and makes it next to impossible to transfer her in. I’ve put over $3000 into fixing it already and it’s one thing after the next with it.

I am asking for everyone’s help to hopefully raise enough money, to get her a wheelchair accessible van. These are very expensive as there are often so many things that are needed to make it safe, that most people don’t think about. I’ve done a lot of research and been in touch with a lot of different organizations. Some that are willing to help and some that she simply just doesn’t meet criteria for assistance. The average cost of a wheelchair accessible van that will meet Hazel’s needs, is around $30,000-$50,000.

I have applied for assistance through organizations such as Loris Voice, and was denied because she doesn’t meet their criteria. I am applying for grants everywhere I can but most places can’t help with much and require that I come up with at least 75% of the cost on my own.

I am unable to afford this on my own unfortunately. I have applied for personal loans as well but do not qualify as I have not had established credit for a long enough period of time.

I am at a loss on what to do and starting to get really worried that I’m not going to be able to safely transport my daughter once she’s home. I really wanna make her life as comfortable as possible for however long her life lasts and this would be a huge contributing factor.

I know this is asking a lot. I also know my village is HUGE! I would appreciate any and all donations no matter the amount. Even if you can’t donate, if you could please share this on all social media platforms, to help me get the word out, that would be equally has helpful and appreciated!! My hope is someone who knows the right people, will see this and help me make the rest of my daughters life, as easy, convenient and comfortable as possible.

From the bottom of my heart, THANKYOU!