A New Wheelchair Van for Dad

Seven years ago, my dad and stepmother were in a terrible car accident on a wintry road in Washington state. It devastated the family; left my strong, capable father a quadriplegic; and brought a wealth of new challenges to him and his wife as newlyweds. When they were married, my dad and stepmother had goals and dreams to travel the world together. After things settled down after the accident, they were able to buy a heavily used Wheelchair Van. The suspension in the van has never been up to the standard that they need for him to travel in any sort of comfort but they have tried anyway and successfully made a few trips to visit family within the states. Over the years though, as his body has changed to adapt to the new lifestyle of sitting, he has lost most of the natural cushion of his bottom. Every bump on the road means a jolt of searing pain for him... and you don't realize just how many potholes, speed bumps, and cracks are in a road until you have to remember to slow to a crawl to go over them (which helps, but is sometimes a traffic hazard!).
Their dream of travel together has been put on the shelf to gather dust. When visiting them over the holidays, I was shocked to see just how much my dad stays indoors, wishing he could go and be active with his family. It broke my heart.

The old van is sadly not worthy of putting the money into for a new suspension, and they are not in a financial place to buy a van with only enough income to pay their current bills and fuel. A new van funded by your help would not only fulfill their dreams, but ease their financial burden by removing their current van payment (as they are still paying for the old van they have). This would allow them to save a bit of money each month to use on their travel adventures! Also, they are very active in their church and would love to be able to do more by being more involved. Already, they are working with teens preparing them to do missionary work in Sunday School.

Newer model used vans have the best suspension from our research, so we are looking for a 2012 model wheelchair van. We have found a few different ones but the average price for one of these vans is between $40-50,000. Their old van will be sold to cover part of the cost of the new van!

Maybe they couldn't travel the world, but with a new (used) van with good suspension, they could travel all over North and South America to fulfill their dream in a new way.

Thanks for taking the time to read our plea for help!


God bless!