I need a new wheelchair!

Hello! <3

My name is Paige Benish, I’m 18, and I need a new wheelchair!

I live with a very painful neurological condition called musculoskeletal hyperesthesia, where my nervous system in my bones and muscular tissue is extremely sensitive. This makes walking difficult, exhausting, and very painful. I rely on a wheelchair for school, working, and simply being able to participate in society.

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have access to medical care, but the current treatment for my condition will NOT prescribe a wheelchair despite it being incredibly unsustainable walk. It may take years to get a prescription and many more years for that prescription to be approved by insurance. In the meantime, I need a wheelchair to be able to work and attend school, meaning I need to pay completely out of pocket.

The current wheelchair I have is falling apart and failing. I was able to get this one for only $50, but it is extremely heavy to lift, will not fold, missing a footplate, and is overall a very temporary and ill-fitting fix. Not having a footplate means my knees and ankles are put in a lot of pain from having to tuck them under the chair. It not folding means I have an extremely hard time getting this wheelchair from different locations, limiting where I can go and when. It being so heavy also means I cannot lift it into a car, and my elderly family I live with cannot lift it either. Getting a new wheelchair would give me so much independence and freedom.

Using a wheelchair has given me incredible liberation and freeing. I’ve been able to go to work. I’ve been able to attend school, and pay attention, and even have enough energy to be involved in passion activities, like theater.

I want to be able to go to college and I need a functioning wheelchair to make this possible. I need a wheelchair that I can lift and take everywhere to make my degree and future possible.

Thank you so much!

Any donations mean the world to me!