ANOTHER 'WHEELCHAIR" EVENT FOR BLAKE! READ ABOUT BLAKE'S ROAD TO MOBILITY!
First a manual chair, now a POWER chair! What's next? Maybe a handicap accessible RV?
With the help of my amazing friends, including Penny Marshall, I held a fundraiser in NYC on January 21st to buy Blake a new "manual" wheelchair. Blake was desperate for new wheels. The chair he had been using for the previous 3 years was old, heavy and lacked back support. The "support" was actually a piece of plywood located underneath his flimsy seat cushion (you can't make this stuff up)! The chair was actually making his condition worse – as if being paralyzed wasn't bad enough! It was awful. We had to take action.
The event was an overwhelming success. We raised enough money to buy the new MANUAL wheelchair AND;)
"power assist" wheels, as a manual chair is not supportive enough for him. Although the new chair was "ultra-lite", Blake still has extreme difficulty pushing himself around with his crippled hands. He desperately needed a POWER wheelchair, but the cost was too far out of reach. "Power assist" wheels would have to do for now.
Shortly after the event on January 21st, I received the phone call from Bill Goldberg telling me that Blake was being considered for a new POWER wheelchair! (I know, so many chairs! It gets confusing!) I of course did not want to spend an additional $7,000 on "power assist" wheels if there's even the slightest chance he might actually receive a donated POWER chair!! I would much rather put that money into his college account!!! I;)
called Jenny, his therapist, and she agreed that I should not buy the power assist wheels. The money should go into his account – so it did.
SO, Blake did receive a new manual wheelchair AND through the amazing generosity of the Darrell Gwynn Foundation and Bill Goldberg, he is actually receiving the custom power chair that never seemed possible. Blake dreams of college and one day leaving the nursing home. The power chair is making that dream come true. He would not be able to commute to and from school in his manual chair. If Blake was not approved for the donated power chair, then I would have to take the money out of his college account to buy the power assist wheels. I am so thankful and grateful that I don't have to!!! You have no idea how amazing this gift is. It's hard for us able bodied people to truly appreciate and understand the magnitude of such a life-changing gift. He lives in a nursing home, but he also "lives" in his chair.
On behalf of everyone who loves Blake, THANK YOU! Whether you've donated for the manual chair or the power chair (both) or simply emailed a kind note, you're generosity is saving this boy's life and it means more than you will ever know. My life has forever been touched by Blake and everyone who cares.
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