Colin McDonald, 15, has been nominated as a “Local Hero,” on an online contest that is part of the second annual National Mobility Awareness Month. In the end, three winners, chosen in part by online votes, will receive a wheelchair accessible van equipped with a customized ramp.
Colin’s mother, Beatrice McDonald, said the gift would be life-changing and help to put the family “back into the mainstream of families.”
“We really do need this,” she said. “It would answer a huge prayer to get this van.”
Colin McDonald was born a seemingly healthy child. But when he was seven weeks old he began to have infantile seizures. Even after a two week stay in the hospital, dozens of doctor’s visits and several surgeries and tests, a diagnosis for Colin’s disorder was never determined, his mother said.
“We went down many paths,” she said. “But there is nothing genetic and no known disease. We never did find out.”
Based on the Colin’s abilities and spastic movements, his mother believes he has cerebral palsy, a group of disorders that affects the brain and nervous system functions. Though he’s confined to a wheelchair, McDonald said she and her husband have been determined to include Colin in family activities, even taking him on a few trips to Ireland.
But as he has gotten older, it is getting more difficult to accommodate his travel needs with the family van. As a result, there are less trips Colin can make with his four siblings.
“It’s just so heavy,” she said. “It has completely cut out all short distance trips. If we’re going down the road for Carvel we’re not going to spend an hour getting him into the car so we can all go.”
For Colin, who his mother describes as a happy child and always laughing, that may mean less trips to one of his favorite places this summer.
“Colin loves the pool and loves the beach and we are going to make every effort to get him there,” McDonald said. “But it’s tough.”
The lack of adequate transportation has also taken its toll on the family. They have begun attending Mass in shifts – girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon - as one parents stays home with Colin.
And when the other children have sporting events, one parent watches Colin while the other attends.
“It would mean the world to everybody in this family to have the whole family at the kid’s events,” McDonald said.
Looking for a solution, McDonald entered Colin in the National Mobility Awareness Month contest. After the online polls close on Friday, the top five percent of vote getters will be evaluated by a panel of judges.
Three winners will eventually be selected to receive a wheelchair accessible van, valued at over $40,000.
Already the McDonald family has racked up nearly 5,500 votes – good enough, McDonald estimates, to put them among the top 13 percent.
“There has been an overwhelming amount of people who have responded,” she said. “But we need more votes.”
To vote for Colin visit mobilityawarenessmonth.com.
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