Prosthetic 4 Firefighter's New Baby
Donation protected
Hi,
My twin brother and sister-in-law (Chris and Lacee) are both amazing firefighters here in Southern California. Every day they unselfishly serve the public and risk their lives for people like you and me. Now, I feel we have an opportunity to show our support for them by helping their daughter out in her time of need. They were recently blessed with Identical twin baby girls named Kylie Grace and Makayla Mae. They were born premature and not only did they weigh approximately 4 pounds, but Kylie was born with an upper limb reduction. Translation…she was born without her left arm from the elbow down. My brother and sister-in-law have fully embraced this and remained extremely optimistic. Whereas many would view this as a travesty, their reaction was “OK, lets move forward. This will not define her and we are not going to treat her any differently than her sister. If anything, we hope Makayla can keep up with Kylie!” Obviously, they are very active people and they want Kylie to endure all the same activities as her sister. They do not see this as a limitation and they do not want Kylie to ever view it that way either! This is where I need your help. They are working to get Kylie fitted with a prosthetic arm.
As you may suspect, prosthetic arms are very expensive. To compound that, being born with a congenital arm amputation means Kylie will need various prosthetic arms throughout her childhood due to her growth and need for different arms as they want her to have the diverse prosthetics necessary to play sports and musical instruments! Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years, but the cost is still extremely high. A study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimated the average lifetime cost for prosthetics and medical care for loss of a single arm for a veteran of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars to be $823,299. A myoelectric prosthetic arm with a functioning hand might cost $20,000- $30,000 or more. In addition to this cost, patients require physical and occupational therapy, which helps them learn how to perform daily tasks at home or work. Physical therapy typically costs $50-$350 per session, and occupational therapy can cost $50-$400 per session. Total costs for therapy can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Now you can see why it is so important we help out Kylie. I want her to have all the same opportunities as her sister and I do not want her to miss out on any life experiences because her parents cannot afford the proper prosthetic and medical treatment. Hopefully, we can all come together and raise enough money to take care of her prosthetic cost for at least her years as an adolescent. Thank you so much for your support! Kylie and Makayla appreciate your help!
My twin brother and sister-in-law (Chris and Lacee) are both amazing firefighters here in Southern California. Every day they unselfishly serve the public and risk their lives for people like you and me. Now, I feel we have an opportunity to show our support for them by helping their daughter out in her time of need. They were recently blessed with Identical twin baby girls named Kylie Grace and Makayla Mae. They were born premature and not only did they weigh approximately 4 pounds, but Kylie was born with an upper limb reduction. Translation…she was born without her left arm from the elbow down. My brother and sister-in-law have fully embraced this and remained extremely optimistic. Whereas many would view this as a travesty, their reaction was “OK, lets move forward. This will not define her and we are not going to treat her any differently than her sister. If anything, we hope Makayla can keep up with Kylie!” Obviously, they are very active people and they want Kylie to endure all the same activities as her sister. They do not see this as a limitation and they do not want Kylie to ever view it that way either! This is where I need your help. They are working to get Kylie fitted with a prosthetic arm.
As you may suspect, prosthetic arms are very expensive. To compound that, being born with a congenital arm amputation means Kylie will need various prosthetic arms throughout her childhood due to her growth and need for different arms as they want her to have the diverse prosthetics necessary to play sports and musical instruments! Prosthetics have come a long way in recent years, but the cost is still extremely high. A study by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimated the average lifetime cost for prosthetics and medical care for loss of a single arm for a veteran of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars to be $823,299. A myoelectric prosthetic arm with a functioning hand might cost $20,000- $30,000 or more. In addition to this cost, patients require physical and occupational therapy, which helps them learn how to perform daily tasks at home or work. Physical therapy typically costs $50-$350 per session, and occupational therapy can cost $50-$400 per session. Total costs for therapy can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Now you can see why it is so important we help out Kylie. I want her to have all the same opportunities as her sister and I do not want her to miss out on any life experiences because her parents cannot afford the proper prosthetic and medical treatment. Hopefully, we can all come together and raise enough money to take care of her prosthetic cost for at least her years as an adolescent. Thank you so much for your support! Kylie and Makayla appreciate your help!
Organizer and beneficiary
Teddy Valente
Organizer
Burbank, CA
Christopher Valente
Beneficiary
