GEORGETOWN, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Scott County 9-year-old is in need of a wheelchair accessible van, and his parents now ask the community for help.
Nine-year-old Avion is the youngest of eight children in the Bray-Sleet family. His parents, Christina and Jonathan describe Avion as a flirt with a friendly personality and a love for the darker side of humor. "He's a crowd favorite. Everybody at school and daycare love him," says Mr. Sleet.
From birth, Avion has had to overcome more hurdles than the average child after he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cerebral palsy is the most common motor disability in childhood. It's caused by damage to the developing brain that affects a persons ability to control their muscles.
"He's non-verbal. Just trying to learn, he does a lot of speech therapy so we can try to figure out how to communicate with him or we can figure out how he's communicating or give him options for communication," explains Jonathan.
The couple talks about how at first their life was turned upside down: "I had to stop working for five months."
Eventually the duo was able to level out a routine. They didn't let fear control their family and realized they had the strength in them to take care of Avion and give him a happy life.
They spoke about their love for camping, hiking and fishing. Now, they do as many activities as possible with Avion by their side. "We take him fishing with us. He goes to all the games. We try to do as much as we can. That we would do anyway. As long as he's comfortable and safe then we just try to continue to do what's going on," Mr. Sleet describes.
However, Avion is a growing child and the family's need for a wheelchair-accessible van grows with him.
"If we go in and out of the car. Every time, we have to break down his wheelchair, we have to put him- lift him physically into his car seat, and that is strenuous. Not only on us but on him," explains Christina. "If we had a van it would make life so much easier."
The couple tells LEX 18 that medical insurance won't cover the cost. Jonathan and Christina turned to Gofundme to hopefully build up enough funds to reach their goal of $50,000.
"We don't need anything special we just want something reliable that we can get, you know, where it's not gonna have to get worked on every week," said Jonathan.
If you'd like to help out Avion and the Bray-Sleet family by donating to their Gofundme and help them buy a wheelchair-accessible van, you can do so by clicking the link gofundme.com.
