Kevin's Wheelchair Accessible Van

Kevin Hakeneis
My name is Amy and I am doing this for my son Kevin.  He is about to turn 14!  He was born 6 weeks early with a deadly muscle condition called congenital fiber-type disproportion.  It is very rare, and when i tried researching it, all I could find were autopsy results!   He couldn't breath on his own and spent his first 8 months of life in the NICU in Sioux Falls, SD and Minneapolis, MN.  When we finally came, he had a tracheostomy and was still on a ventilator.  We had 24-hour nursing care and he was critically ill.  Day and night, we didn't know--would he be alive the next minute?  But as the years have gone by, and many surgeries... to expand his femurs, his jaw bones, place a feeding tube, repack his intestines, correct his club feet, 6 surgeries for rods in his back for severe scoliosis and lordosis, which is ongoing--and look at him!!  He is beautiful, handsome, intelligent, funny, outgoing--loves his parents, his brother and his legos!! Our God and Saviour has been with us every step of the way, carrying us much of the time.    We are beyond blessed every day we have together. 
  

May the 4th Be With You!  Kevin and His little brother Arick on Star Wars Day!  

The road, however, has not been easy.  After struggling for years with his health, we now struggle with finances to modify every inch of our home (inside and out)  to make it accessible.  He has frequent surgeries and lung infections which keep him out of school weeks at a time and us from work.  He is going on nearly 80 pounds and has a 300 pound power wheelchair which has been a blessing from God.  However, it is getting extremely difficult to lift him in and out of the van seat we have now and then unload a 60 pound portable aluminum ramp onto the back of the liftgate, wheel the chair up,  fold the ramp back up, lift the ramp back in, and do it all in reverse when we get to where we are going.  We can lift 1000 pounds by the end of a day trip to Dr. appointments and more if we go somewhere for longer.Dixie the therapy dog during a recent hospital stay...

We are now relying on the the kindness of strangers to help us with one of the last pieces of our puzzle.  We NEED a wheelchair accessible van with an automatic lift.  One that he can just drive in and out of and travel while sitting in his wheelchair in comfort!  If we can get this accomplished, we can literally take Kevin and our family ANYWHERE!  We have been so limited to distances and if we have to get in and out frequently that we just stay home--and so his life that we have fought so hard to save and make full, is lacking in experiences.  Please help us reach our goal and get our Kevvy on the road to discovering his life! 
THANK YOU!!!    A VERY GRATEFUL MOM :)