This little girl is ready to roll
New stroller will help family enjoy the outdoors and more activities
Caitlyn Fraser enjoys music, meeting people and maybe a little adventure on the side with her parents Matt and Stacy.
The 10-year-old Truro girl lives with a rare brain condition called lissencephaly that gives her seizures and confines her to a wheelchair. Now, however, she is being upgraded to a new model courtesy of the Children’s Wish Foundation, who presented her with a Hippocampe Stroller Tuesday at Truro Mazda.
“We’re just overwhelmed,” said Caitlyn’s father, Matt. It’s awesome to have support and things like this for children such as Caitlyn; she’s a very special little girl and deserves to be treated like a little princess and have her wish come true.”
The Hippocampe Stroller is a lightweight 35-lb. wheelchair with wide wheels that can easily navigate sand, can be fitted with skis in winter and it even floats on water.
Stacy said the family has a cottage on the beach where they enjoy spending summer, but on the beach Caitlyn’s regular wheelchair get stuck in the sand.
The new stroller comes equipped with not only wide wheels but safety features includ- ing a seat harness, a hood to protect Caitlyn’s head and a smaller “tomato seat” designed for a child. As she grows, the tomato seat will be removed to give her more space.
Thanks to her new Hippocampe Stroller, Caitlyn can, not only enjoy the outdoors, she can play baseball with the Truro Challengers program.
It’s evident Caitlyn’s surrounded by her family’s love. She was joined by grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles from Tatamagouche and elsewhere for the event.
As Matt noted, “It takes a team to raise a child like Caitlyn.”
The Children’s Wish Foundation, who presented Caitlyn with her stroller, is a Canada-wide organization that grants wishes to children between age three and 17 coping with life-threatening illnesses.
This now includes children living with genetic or neurological conditions such as lissencephaly.
The disease causes the surface of a child’s brain to appear smooth, without the usual folds. Symptoms can include seizures, trouble swallowing and being unable to speak or move properly, similar to cerebral palsy.
Caitlyn’s parents first noticed the condition when she was a baby and she was soon diagnosed with lissencephaly.