Child could use special help to stand

Jasmine Thompson considers her 10-year-old son, Montavius, to be a miracle.

When he entered the world 12 weeks prematurely while Jasmine was in Alabama for a funeral, he weighed a few ounces more than a pound. He spent the first three months of life in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Before his mother brought him home to Cincinnati, his Alabama medical team told her he would be profoundly disabled and likely would never speak. The team recommended he be placed in a pediatric long-term care facility. She would have none of that. “We didn't know what to expect,” says Jasmine, 31, a single mother who works part-time as a state-tested nursing assistant. “We just knew we had this little bitty baby whose prognosis was not good. We didn't know what his capabilities were going to be.” That was then.

“And here we are,” she says, glancing at Montavius, a fifth-grader who attends Bond Hill Academy. She describes him as shy, intelligent and caring. A free-spirited boy with a great imagination. He has been listening as his mother tells his story.

“I'm very good at reading,” Montavius says, also mentioning math, science and PE as favorite classes. “I like drawing a lot, too.” And like many kids, he enjoys video games.

Early in life, he received excellent care at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, his mother says. On his first visit, he stopped breathing. Before Jasmine left the hospital that day, she learned how to do CPR.

When he was 2, Montavius was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which has left him unable to walk. He also deals with chronic lung disease.

“He can't get around like most people,” his mother says. “But he gets around.”

When not in his wheelchair, he moves swiftly on the floor of the Bond Hill home he shares with his mother and three siblings, ages 11, 5 and 3.

His arms propel him and his legs help steady him. “It's crawling, but not like a baby,” he says. “It's like walking on all four limbs.”

The result of all that upper-body work: “My arms,” he says, “are very strong.”

Growing up with a disability, Montavius acknowledges he has sometimes been bullied and teased. “But I have a lot of friends,” he adds.

Although he does not complain about his disability, “he would love to be as independent as possible,” his mother says. And she knows he yearns to be out of his wheelchair or off the floor and take part in activities with his peers.

FAMILIESFORWARD, a United Way partner agency that helps children reach their full potential, nominated Montavius for the Wish List because his family cannot afford the equipment that would improve his quality of life.

One wish is for a Rabbit Up Stander, which would support him in a standing position while providing mobility similar to a wheelchair. It would allow him to participate in activities at eye-level with friends and family. His other wish is for a mobile pediatric bath and toilet chair, which will make it easier for him to wash himself.

John Johnston is the content writer at United Way and a former Enquirer reporter.

“We didn’t know what to expect. We just knew we had this little bitty baby whose prognosis was not good. We didn’t know what his capabilities were going to be.” Jasmine Thompson