Gift of accessible van `life-changing' for family of boy with cerebral palsy
The gift of an accessible van will be life-changing for the Surrey family of five-year-old Emiliano Hernandez.
The whole family, along with the van donor, Craig Tschritter of Alliance Mobility Solutions, was on hand last week at Sunnyhill Health Centre in Vancouver as Emiliano's team of physical therapists helped the boy try out the van.
“It was a day that felt like a hug,” said Tschritter.
Even with masks, strict COVID-19 protocols and social distancing, the warmth and emotion was evident, said Tschritter.
Emiliano, 5, has cerebral palsy and is deaf and blind after an illness shortly after his birth.
He can't hold his head up or stand, needs six medications daily, can't be left without supervision and his parents have to hold him upright when he sleeps.
But he is a bright boy who understands everything said to him through a tactile form of sign language, and loves to learn and play like any other kid.
Although Variety had donated an electric wheelchair to the family worth $25,000 after their 2020 telethon, the family had not been able to accept it because they didn't have an accessible van. Tschritter stepped in to solve the issue after seeing a Postmedia story on the family's plight.
Tschritter said it took a bit of time for Emiliano to get used to the new power chair — he had to learn to drive it by moving his head — and up the ramp into the van, but it quickly became clear this van was a gift for the whole family.
As soon as Emiliano was inside on the new chair, big brother Jeronimo, 7, leaped in to the van to buckle up the security straps that will keep his little brother safe.
“This is life-changing for us,” said his mother, Diana Salcedo.
Jeronimo and Emiliano are both ecstatic, she said.
“Now they will be able to sit next to each other,” said Salcedo. “Jeronimo always wanted to be able to sit next to his brother.”
Emiliano will also now be able to go to school in September and start Grade 1 with other kids his age.
Tschritter said that over the last decade, both public funding and charitable funding for accessible vehicles has dried up, leaving families like Emiliano's with fewer and fewer options.
“I've always wanted to do something more,” said Tschritter, who approached his partners Shawn Sidhu and Bobby Rupinder to see what they could do. “We all thought this was something we could do to give back.”
The cost of converting a vehicle to accommodate the 160-180 kilogram electric wheelchairs starts at about $17,000 and can range up to $37,000 for a side entry van.
The Hernandez family didn't have a vehicle that was worth converting, so Alliance is donating a van that retails for approximately $34,000.
Tschritter said, “I would like to see more funding coming back to families that have kids in chairs. I have three kids, mine were all healthy and fine, but the government needs to step up again.”