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My daughter Zoe is not like every other 11th grader, although you would never know. In fact, the more you learn about Zoe, the more you realize she is very much like every other 11th grader and that is exactly the way Zoe wants it to be.
Zoe was born in Puerto Rico with Tetra-Amelia which is a very rare syndrome characterized by the absence of all four limbs. Most people with this syndrome who don’t die at child birth don’t live long after birth. Upon birth, Zoe had to battle many medical complications such as chronic high fevers, respiratory issues, scoliosis and severe gastro issues. These medical conditions caused Zoe to have to be feed by a Nasogastric tube for part of the first year of her life. The medical care and services offered in Puerto Rico were very inadequate and lacking in many aspects. When Zoe was eight months old we made the tough yet necessary decision to move to Connecticut and seek better healthcare, services and life for our daughter.
Zoe faces many challenges in her everyday life that would make most of us want to give up, but we face those challenges as a family and view them as just one more opportunity. Zoe’s passion and love for school, family, friends and life is infectious. Her wheelchair is adapted with assistive technology and electronic devices. These include a joystick that Zoe uses with her chin to control her wheelchair and other electronic devices. Although Zoe's wheelchair and it's technology offer her some mobility and independence a proper wheelchair van would change her life forever by offering her the freedom and accessibility to the world she so desperately wants and deserves.
When it comes to school Zoe is a high honors student who is a positive role model and an outstanding ambassador for her school. She takes her academic endeavors very seriously and has the dreams and aspirations of going to college for meteorology and pursuing a career in that field once college has been completed. Her ambition, drive and desire are what allow her to take an adverse situation that most of us would find daunting and focus on the positives to live life to the fullest.
As Zoe gets older and heavier the daily transportation challenges and struggles of having to lift her out of her wheelchair and placed safely into the car become increasingly difficult. She is a very active and outgoing young woman who puts no limits on what she can do or accomplish and the use of a proper assistance vehicle would enable her to move forward with the lifestyle she deserves. Above all, Zoe is my hero by making what seems insurmountable simply insignificant. She may live a life without limbs but to her it’s a life without limits.
Zoe was born in Puerto Rico with Tetra-Amelia which is a very rare syndrome characterized by the absence of all four limbs. Most people with this syndrome who don’t die at child birth don’t live long after birth. Upon birth, Zoe had to battle many medical complications such as chronic high fevers, respiratory issues, scoliosis and severe gastro issues. These medical conditions caused Zoe to have to be feed by a Nasogastric tube for part of the first year of her life. The medical care and services offered in Puerto Rico were very inadequate and lacking in many aspects. When Zoe was eight months old we made the tough yet necessary decision to move to Connecticut and seek better healthcare, services and life for our daughter.
Zoe faces many challenges in her everyday life that would make most of us want to give up, but we face those challenges as a family and view them as just one more opportunity. Zoe’s passion and love for school, family, friends and life is infectious. Her wheelchair is adapted with assistive technology and electronic devices. These include a joystick that Zoe uses with her chin to control her wheelchair and other electronic devices. Although Zoe's wheelchair and it's technology offer her some mobility and independence a proper wheelchair van would change her life forever by offering her the freedom and accessibility to the world she so desperately wants and deserves.
When it comes to school Zoe is a high honors student who is a positive role model and an outstanding ambassador for her school. She takes her academic endeavors very seriously and has the dreams and aspirations of going to college for meteorology and pursuing a career in that field once college has been completed. Her ambition, drive and desire are what allow her to take an adverse situation that most of us would find daunting and focus on the positives to live life to the fullest.
As Zoe gets older and heavier the daily transportation challenges and struggles of having to lift her out of her wheelchair and placed safely into the car become increasingly difficult. She is a very active and outgoing young woman who puts no limits on what she can do or accomplish and the use of a proper assistance vehicle would enable her to move forward with the lifestyle she deserves. Above all, Zoe is my hero by making what seems insurmountable simply insignificant. She may live a life without limbs but to her it’s a life without limits.