Help Ava Walk: Support Her Trexo Robotic Gait Trainer

Family and Friends,

Imagine yourself running in a marathon, wind whipping past you, feeling your feet land on the ground as each step gets you closer and closer to the finish line. Imagine hiking up the tallest mountain, setting out early in the morning, watching the sun rise over the horizon, and climbing 3,000 feet in elevation over the course of your hike. When you get to the top, a little tired but a lot excited, you are able to look out over the valley and see the world as you’d never seen it before. Imagine yourself simply getting up in the morning, rolling out of bed, making yourself a cup of coffee, brushing your teeth, walking out to the backyard with coffee in hand, and standing watching the rain come down. Now…imagine…that you may not be able to do any of those things. No typical running. No typical hiking. Not even getting out of bed on your own. This might make you feel…defeated. Now imagine you are a 9 year old girl, this, currently, is Ava’s reality. However, if you know Ava, “defeated” is not a word in her vocabulary. No way. No how. Ava is strong. Ava is a fighter. Ava is funny. Ava is my niece.

As you likely know by now, life for Ava looks a little different and unfortunately, living with a disability also makes life more expensive. Every year Michael and Angela hit the max out of pocket on their insurance policy in addition to paying for equipment, services and medical travel not covered by insurance.

Just this summer, the family traveled to Delaware for Ava’s 4th surgery (4 too many for any 9 year old to have had to endure, anyway) to allow her hips to grow somewhat normally and keep her legs from crossing over. This surgery is invasive, and requires cutting of both her femurs, reattaching the head of the femur, and increasing the depth of her hip socket. If it sounds kind of drastic…it’s because it is. But, in her case, it is also very necessary in order to attempt to maintain her hips and reduce the scissoring in her legs. Whenever our family gets together, we think about “How can we help Ava be the best she can be? How can we get Ava mobile and using her muscles? How can we give Ava a life that is not centered around what she can’t do…but what she can do?”

If you know me, you know I am a huge fan of science and technology. I truly believe that the future of medicine and therapy will be a mixture of bioengineering coupled with cybernetic advancements. I also think that we are not quite there yet, but there are things out there that can help Ava become more mobile. One of them is called the Trexo, which is a robotic gait trainer that allows her to not only walk, but also to get stronger, send signals to her brain to help train her limbs, and builds core strength. Ava had a chance to test out these robolegs and for the first time she was able to walk fully upright, normally she has to lean forward to get momentum to walk. She was so happy walking in the Trexo and has been asking when she will get her own. Take a look: Trexo Robotic Walker

As you can imagine, this thing is NOT cheap. Unfortunately, in this world, the things that people REALLY need are either not readily available, or are so expensive that they are cost prohibitive for the average family to afford. Such is the case here. All in, this robot costs $50k. Sigh. Yeah…that’s a lot.

However, as you all know, that even a little bit over a lot of friends and family goes a loooooong way. This is where we are. We have a beautiful little girl who tries every day to do all that she can. We have a little girl who sometimes gets left behind when her cousins and sister run around, playing as children tend to do. We have a little girl who deserves the opportunity to be as free as she can in this life. Can you help Ava be as free as she can be? Can you help her get a little closer to that goal line? Can you help her feel what it is like to move on her own?

Right now, Ava’s Grammy, Gail, is doing alterations on clothes to bring in some money (she has already made $1,000) to put toward the cause. We also held a garage sale back in May and made another $700 to help offset costs. Anything….anything at all, even one dollar, will help us reach our goal. Please think about donating, pray on it, think about it….anything at all will help.

In advance, for all of your thoughts, your prayers, your support, and your love for Ava now and for the last 9 years…we sincerely thank you. Thank you. You are appreciated more than you know.

God Bless,

Rob, Stefanie, Ryleigh, Skylar, Gail, Michael, Angela, Ava and Olivia