Michaels Wheels!

Hi Everyone, we are the Morones-Bartow family and we'd like to share a bit of our story with you. It was 7 years ago that our son Michael, 11-years-old at the time, suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of attempted suicide. You may remember seeing his story in the news, as he was a huge My Little Pony fan, and he suffered a great deal of bullying because of it. To this day, it is our belief that the unkindness of others led to his painful and impulsive choice.  And yet, it was the kindness of others that brought him through those early, tenuous days, and brought us as a family through every challenge that has come our way since. So many people have been touched by his story. He was a bright, creative, warm-hearted child who has now grown to young-adulthood with severe limitations. He is 100% dependent for all of his care and requires nursing day and night. When his professional nurses are not here, we, his family are his nurses. There is never a moment when he can be left alone. His nurses are here when we work and while we sleep.


When everything happened 7 years ago, a huge community of support swelled up around us and raised money that allowed us to buy essentials for Michael, including, among many other things, a van that we were able to convert for his wheelchair. We have been grateful beyond words for the support we have been given thus far. In fact, because everyone was so generous and helpful immediately after Michael’s brain injury, we hate to ask for anything else, but unfortunately we are here to do just that. 


You see, Michael's van has almost reached the 100,000 mile mark and is starting to have some expensive mechanical issues. Not only that, but he has really outgrown it. We know that must sound crazy...how can you "outgrow" a van? Well, Michael is 18-years-old now, and his wheelchairs have "grown" with him. His newest chair barely fits in the center of the van, leaving very little spare room for his nurses or his brother (who is now almost a teenager too!) We struggle to fit all of us in the van at one time to go anywhere, particularly if we need to take our dogs along. We really, desperately need more room, and we need a van we can depend on to get Michael where he needs to go without fear of its breaking down. It is one of our worst fears.


What we would really like to do is to get Michael a new van that has enough space for him, for us (his family) his nurse, and maybe even our dogs. That way we can take him more places (COVID safe of course). He needs the opportunity to be outside when the weather is good, and to be with us.


Here is what we found in our research and what our plans would be for the money we receive:


If we can raise the full $60,000 we are asking for, (we recognize this is a lot of money), we will be able to get him a brand new Nissan NV 3500 van and also pay for the wheelchair conversion in full. In turn, we will gift his current van to a family in need knowing that they would be far more likely to be able to afford the repairs it needs than they would be to buy a wheelchair accessible van themselves.

if we receive the full amount AND end up with leftover funds, we would also make as many repairs to the current van as possible before gifting it, which would be ideal. 

If it turns out we cannot raise enough money to buy the new van and convert it outright, we would hope that we might get enough to buy a new van with our current van as a trade-in. 

Lastly, if necessary, we would hope at least to make the repairs to the current van and maybe buy a used car for his mother, Tiffany, to drive, in hopes of putting as few miles on the van as possible. 

This request is difficult for us to make, and yet it could make a world of difference for Michael and for us as a family. It would give us peace of mind and more restful sleep to know that the new van will be reliable and not leave us stranded...and that we don't have to break the bank to fix it. It will give Michael room for not just himself and his chair, but for all of the supplies that travel with him. We can give our nurses an environment to travel in that makes them comfortable so that they want to stay on Michael's case. (some leg room makes a world of difference when you are 6 feet tall like one of his nurses!).  And more than anything, it will allow Michael to travel with us, his family, when we go to the park or his brother's soccer games, or...when COVID is behind us...on road trips to see extended family. So often he misses out on these things right now because there is just no space, and we don't trust the van we have. He deserves to be included. Even without the ability to speak or move, his energy is warm and gentle. We want him with us.


Please, if you are able and willing during these difficult times, it would mean the world to us if you would help us with this dream for the future. In fact, if you have read this far, thank you just for taking the time to listen to our story and to send us your good wishes. We are grateful for every one of you. 


To help get the word out, you can share the link to your Facebook page!


Thank you again,


The Morones-Bartow Family