A sensory garden for Jordan-Lee, to help him walk again

Jordan-Lee is a wonderful 13 year old boy and one of a twin. Unfortunately, at 10 months old he suffered an epileptic seizure which resulted in brain injury and developmental regression. Jordan-Lee lost his eye sight, so now he can only see light and dark, and two colours, red and gold.

Jordan-Lee's overall diagnosis is still unknown but is under the Cerebral Palsy umbrella. His epilepsy is triggered by heat and over-stimulation. Jordan-Lee is spastic quadriplegic and currently in a wheelchair. In 2013 he learnt how to walk assisted and soon started walking unassisted. Mum and Dad were so proud of him as his doctors said he would never sit or walk, and he did both!

But, in 2015 Jordan-Lee was rushed to hospital. He stayed for 3 months with Mum by his side. After that event he was not allowed to eat or drink, had surgery and is now tube fed. This was life changing for the family as Mum could not return to work and needs to be with Jordan-Lee 24/7. Spending so much time in the hospital set Jordan-Lee back with his walking as his legs became weak. He couldn’t hold himself up to walk or stand. Over the last few years Jordan-Lee has spent many weeks in and out of hospital due to his epilepsy, and has not been able to regain his strength to walk or stand alone. This left the family needing a fully accessible home to cater for Jordan's complex needs.

Last year was difficult. Due to health issues Dad is not allowed to work anymore but at the end of 2018 the family found a new home to suit Jordan-Lee's needs, in Whangarei. The family packed up and made the big move North to a home that is good, but the garden is exposed, sloping and currently inaccessible.

Mum, dad and twin brother Ashton-Connor love being outdoors spending quality time together with Jordan-Lee. The boys enjoy reading, baking, playing (adaptive) skittles and just being outside. Ashton is a passionate cricket player and the opening fast bowler for Northland! His goal is to be the fastest opening bowler for the Black Caps, with the support of his twin by his side. Jordan supports his brother at all his cricket games and gets really excited when his twin is bowling and batting. Jordan is also quite a competitor. At school he came second in Adaptive Skittles and went to the inter-school Adaptive sports day in Auckland where he came third! Both parents are extremely proud of their boys.

For people that suffer from sensory impairments Nature connection is powerful medicine. Jordan-Lee needs a specialist Sensory Garden at home to provide that ‘medicine’ to entice, encourage and enable him to get of his wheelchair. The garden will offer a flexible healing outdoor space with terraces designed for play and rest, accessible paths through a private oasis, sheltered from the sun and wind. It will be a garden that offers sun and shade, bright red and golden plants to encourage Jordan to reach out from his chair to touch, movement of birds and butterflies to catch his eye, and uncluttered space to let him absorb the stimuli. There will be a water feature to entice Jordan-Lee to reach out to feel the water on his skin. The Sensory Garden will give Jordan-Lee somewhere to relax after stimulation and play skittles with his brother. It will also enable him to enjoy time with mum and dad. The garden will benefit Jordan-Lee in so many ways and have lasting effects on his champion mum and deserving father. It will create a space to relax and give the family the well-deserved quality time they need.

Greenstone Design’s design team have the award-winning experience and science of evidence-based design to create accessible, low maintenance, nature-rich sensory gardens. Unfortunately, the family have no means to pay for the garden that Jordan-Lee needs. So, on behalf of Jordan-Lee we are looking for individuals, local businesses and the wider community to support this project. We need your financial contribution to help build the family a garden that will heal and allow Jordan-Lee his ultimate dream: to be able to walk again.