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Help Andre get a wheelchair van

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Imagine going to be one night and your life is normal but waking up in the middle of the night and your life is forever changed! Well that is what happened to me and my then 3 year old son Andre. On March 29, 2017 my son had cold like symptoms I gave him his meds as normal and put him to bed I woke up around 2am to find my son unresponsive and clinging to life. I immediately called 911 and we were rushed to CRMC in Fresno after running cat scans and him not waking up it was discovered he had some lesions on his brain we were then rushed to Valley Children's Hospital where it was discovered he had something called (ANE) Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy which was triggered by the flu.  ANE has a 70% mortality rate and is extremely rare and primarily found in Asia. Doctors told me my son only had a 30 % chance of surviving and sent in a Chaplin and hospice team to meet with me and advice me of his options. Doctors explained to me that if Andre did survive he would likely be a vegetable and need life support and would not have a very good quality of life. Around our 4th or 5th day in the hospital they took his breathing tube out to see if he would breathe on his own and HE DID! After 11 days in the PICU we were then moved down to Rehab where he started making slow but steady progress he started vocalizing, trying to respond to simple commands by squeezing fingers, getting agitated with nurses and doctors, moving his arms and legs. We stayed at Valley Children's for nearly 3 months we went home on June 13, 2017 and that's when our new normal began!  Due to his illness Andre cant eat food by mouth currently and has a G-tube, he is also unable to walk and almost completely non ambulatory so I have to lift him and his wheel chair in and out of the car EVERYDAY multiple times a day because we have multiple appointments each week.

Due to this and Andre's size 60 pounds and 3'8  and he is only getting bigger we are trying to raise money for a wheelchair accessible van so that we can be able to do more things for and with and Andre by making the world around him more easily accessible to him and make our lives a little bit more easier.  Since being in the hospital last year Andre is now able to eat purees food, he is learning to walk in a gait trainer, he can sit unassisted for about 30 seconds, he can shake his head yes or no, he is learning to use a communication device, tracking and making eye contact with his eyes, and can say a couple words at random. Andre's week consists of home school 2days a week, speech therapy, vision therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and multiple doctors appointments each week a wheel chair accessible van will help us get him to his appointments more quickly and allow us to help Andre ride in the car more comfortably.

Thank you all in advance for your support and continued support
Kamareia and Andre

Andre's news links
http://abc30.com/health/4-year-old-nearly-dies-after-catching-the-flu/2748889/

http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/video/disease-changes-fresno-toddlers-life-overnight-family-says_20171006060812/828039515

http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/fundraiser-for-andre-carson_20171208071952/877427253

http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/fresno-church-supports-toddler-whose-life-changed-overnight/830683617

http://kmph.com/news/local/central-valley-child-fighting-a-brain-virus

http://kmph.com/news/local/boy-beats-rare-virus-celebrates-4th-birthday
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/sporty-boy-4-in-wheelchair-and-unable-to-speak-after-flu-triggered-illness-1-4797214

Organizer

Kamareia Parrish
Organizer
Fresno, CA

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