A Ramp for Good

This is a photo of my Dad and Mum taken at their 40th wedding anniversary in October 2016. Ten months earlier, my Dad was walking, driving and working. Fast forward to one night in April when my Dad tried to get out of bed only to find that he could not move his legs or hands and thus ensued months of operations, decompressing his spine, fusing bones and hospitalization at North Shore Hospital followed by a further two months at the Spinal Rehab Unit in Otara. My Dad has a degenerative bone condition whereby the spaces in the vertebrae is so minimal it doesn't allow for proper blood flow or signals from his brain to reach the rest of his body virtually leaving him a tetraplegic, unable to take care of himself or move without assistance.

My Dad is home now which is where he should be but he is soon to become housebound. My parents were given a ramp so my Dad would be able to access the world outside of his four walls in order to maintain and improve his mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. However, my parents have just recently learned that the organization that had loaned them the ramp is collecting it on 16th of this month (next Monday). My Mum had to give up her job in order to take care of my Dad full time so is not able to purchase or lease another ramp and unfortunately the waiting list for alterations to be considered through the DHB is considerable and not a viable option. We are needing to raise $3000.00 in order to get a permanent ramp installed. We are confident that one day through my Dad's hard work and determination, he will walk again or at the very least be able to navigate the four steps in and out of his house. At this point we would be looking to pay-it-forward and go on to donate the ramp to another deserving person/family as our way to help someone else in need as this Givealittle page is helping my family that is in need :-)