An Edinburgh mum has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to buy her four-year-old son a new wheelchair.
Tracy Marshall, who lives in Murrayfield said that her son would “go to the beach every day” but his current wheelchair makes that prohibitively difficult. They have now started a new GoFundMe campaign with the hopes of raising the money for an all-terrain wheelchair so her child can do what he loves.
The 39-year-old's son, Orion, was born prematurely at just 28 weeks and weighed just 2lbs and 9 ounces. He was also born with nine PVL cysts, where the brain tissue has either been damaged or died.
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The doctors feared he would be born deaf-blind but instead he was born Quadriplegic Dystonic, a severe form of cerebral palsy. He also has severe sight issues. While Orion can see, the part of his brain that registers sight has been damaged and he is now registered as blind. While the extent of the damage is still unknown, as he gets older it will become clear how well he can see.
Orion also loves the beach, his mum says he would go there every day if it were possible. However, the current wheelchair buggy they have cannot access any rough terrain, making it almost impossible to go for country walks, go to the beach or even for Orion to see the secret garden at his nursery.
So, the family have now started a GoFundMe campaign to get Orion an all-terrain wheelchair so he can do more of what he loves. Only launched yesterday, the fundraiser has already earned more than £250 but with a goal of £7,000, there is still a long way to go.
We spoke to Tracy about the GoFundMe Campaign, she said: “He wants to do everything his brothers do, what other people at nursery do but his current buggy doesn’t work very well for that. It doesn’t have very good suspension and it means we can’t really go on long walks over rough terrain.
“It would make him so happy. He really loves the beach, he would go every day if we could but it's a struggle.
“Even being able to interact properly at nursery because playgrounds are hard. There's a wee forest on a hill next to his school where there’s a hidden garden and trying to access that in his current wheelchair is very difficult.
“Just being able to go to a playpark near a beach, having a chair that can go anywhere and could connect with the environment around him would make such a change.
“Cognitively he’s just like any other boy, it's just that his body is different and now he’s four he’s beginning to realise that. He says to me that he ‘knows his body doesn’t work’ and asks ‘can we go to the shop and buy a new body please?’ It’s quite harrowing.
“I’m overwhelmed by the reaction. I don't know what I expected but I didn’t expect to raise £350 in 24 hours. And some of it has been strangers that I don't even know, which has been pretty awesome.”
People can donate to Orion’s GoFundMe campaign here.
