Strikeforce Wheelchair for Jack
Donation protected
Hi! I'm Jack. I'm a 30-year-old special needs teacher, amateur filmmaker and hopeful athlete, and I need your help.
I was born with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) - a progressive muscle-wasting disease that affects my ability to walk and carry out day-to-day activities. As a kid I was just like any other, but just before I entered my teens I stopped being able to run. Slowly I found myself unable to do more things; walking up small inclines, raising my arms above my head, being able to climb stairs, and even rolling over in bed. I started falling. More and more frequently. Walking more than 50 metres unaided and lifting anything heavier than a mobile phone, or a post-work drink on a Friday afternoon became really, really hard work. These days I use a power wheelchair to get around outside most of the time, and I need assistance at home for things like cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and making the bed.
This is not a sob story. It is one of empowerment. When I finally got my own electric wheelchair, much of my independence was restored. I could take my dogs for a walk again. I could go grocery shopping by myself again. I could spend an entire day at a music festival without face-planting and breaking my nose again. I could play sport again, and I did – representing the State of Western Australia in the National Electric Wheelchair Sports (NEWS) competition for 3 years. But in 2018, the game has changed. This is where you come in...
As sport becomes more accessible for people with chronic disabilities, so does disability equipment become more specialised for sporting competition. In Australia, the Eastern States of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland have been successful in sourcing funds through corporate sponsorship and grants for sport-ready wheelchairs and disabled sports equipment. This has enabled people with disabilities, whom rely on an electric wheelchair for daily mobility, to represent Australia in international Power Football, Power Hockey and Power Rugby competitions. Unfortunately, for reasons that ultimately amount to being unable to afford and transport competition-level electric wheelchairs, Western Australians have largely missed out on selection for the Australian team in international electric wheelchair sporting events.
This GoFundMe is purposed to raise money to buy a Strikeforce power wheelchair so that I am able to represent Australia in international power wheelchair sports competitions. Strikeforce’s are made in the USA, and as such the target of this fundraiser has been adjusted for currency conversion and shipping to Perth. The chair takes 8 weeks to ship once an order has been placed – just in time to start training for the 2018/19 season. I appeal to you to donate what you can to help me achieve my goal of representing Australia in international power wheelchair sports.
Thank you for your consideration.
Jack
I was born with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) - a progressive muscle-wasting disease that affects my ability to walk and carry out day-to-day activities. As a kid I was just like any other, but just before I entered my teens I stopped being able to run. Slowly I found myself unable to do more things; walking up small inclines, raising my arms above my head, being able to climb stairs, and even rolling over in bed. I started falling. More and more frequently. Walking more than 50 metres unaided and lifting anything heavier than a mobile phone, or a post-work drink on a Friday afternoon became really, really hard work. These days I use a power wheelchair to get around outside most of the time, and I need assistance at home for things like cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and making the bed.
This is not a sob story. It is one of empowerment. When I finally got my own electric wheelchair, much of my independence was restored. I could take my dogs for a walk again. I could go grocery shopping by myself again. I could spend an entire day at a music festival without face-planting and breaking my nose again. I could play sport again, and I did – representing the State of Western Australia in the National Electric Wheelchair Sports (NEWS) competition for 3 years. But in 2018, the game has changed. This is where you come in...
As sport becomes more accessible for people with chronic disabilities, so does disability equipment become more specialised for sporting competition. In Australia, the Eastern States of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland have been successful in sourcing funds through corporate sponsorship and grants for sport-ready wheelchairs and disabled sports equipment. This has enabled people with disabilities, whom rely on an electric wheelchair for daily mobility, to represent Australia in international Power Football, Power Hockey and Power Rugby competitions. Unfortunately, for reasons that ultimately amount to being unable to afford and transport competition-level electric wheelchairs, Western Australians have largely missed out on selection for the Australian team in international electric wheelchair sporting events.
This GoFundMe is purposed to raise money to buy a Strikeforce power wheelchair so that I am able to represent Australia in international power wheelchair sports competitions. Strikeforce’s are made in the USA, and as such the target of this fundraiser has been adjusted for currency conversion and shipping to Perth. The chair takes 8 weeks to ship once an order has been placed – just in time to start training for the 2018/19 season. I appeal to you to donate what you can to help me achieve my goal of representing Australia in international power wheelchair sports.
Thank you for your consideration.
Jack
Organizer
Jack O'keeffe
Organizer
Claremont WA
