A local woman is raising money for a wheelchair-accessible van to try and help give her cousin greater independence.
Avery King has started a GoFundMe for her cousin Miranda v
Bester-McCarville who has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy that affects all four limbs.
Miranda is 22-years-old and uses a wheelchair.
Although she has graduated from DP Todd Secondary and now lives on her own taking on most daily challenges independently, her family struggles with getting her out of the house as not all vehicles are suitable to transport a wheelchair.
“She's moved out on her own, so she no longer is with living with her parents and with that, there's lots of more family who come and go and pick up Miranda and take her places and what not,” explained King.
“I'm hoping that we can get a wheelchair accessible van that can stay at Miranda's house and when family comes, and when they want to take Miranda, or when I take her coffee or to the pool, she can just can roll right into the van and it’s much safer for her.”
King said with this van her family would be able to include Miranda in 99.9 per cent of activities.
“She was ecstatic about the idea of having a reliable vehicle always in her driveway that allows anyone friends or family to include her,” said King.
“Because there are a lot of times when we bring Miranda somewhere, and she has to stay in the vehicle because we can't bring the wheelchair, or the wheelchair doesn't fit in our regular cars. So, she comes but she doesn't get to fully experience things.”
They are hoping to gain enough funding so they can buy and convert a van into a wheelchair-accessible vehicle and adjust it to comfortably seat Miranda.
“She is just a very humble person, and she puts the needs of others before herself and if the community could rally together and show Miranda this abundance of support and love — there's been lots of people reaching out with love — It could really improve her quality of life,” said King.
“For a person who is in a wheelchair that has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, she spends a majority of her life feeling like — and I hate to use this word — but like an outcast. Because there's not a whole lot of people who can relate to her and just having this abundance of support could really lift her up.”
King said Miranda’s journey has also opened her eyes to the needs of the wheelchair community in Prince George.
She said Miranda lives in a wheelchair-accessible house that was built by AiMHi and since moving there she’s met a lot of other wheelchair users.
“My eyes have really been open to the wheelchair community that we do have here in Prince George, and this is an ongoing issue. It's not just Miranda there’s several other people in her building complex that are dealing with this same issue,” added King.
“I just also want to bring awareness for people in wheelchairs and that we need to have more accessible lifestyles for them.”
King said a reliable vehicle is the first priority on their list but any of the excess funds will be put towards home and lifestyle improvements for Miranda.
To find out more information or to donate to the fundraiser you can visit the GoFundMe link or Miranda’s Journey to Independence on Facebook.
