Savy Salas Wheelchair Van

Please let us tell you a little bit about Savannah (Savy). After she was born, we noticed she was not meeting her milestones and not making eye contact with anyone. She was healthy, as far as we knew, so we didn’t know why. When she was 13 months old, she had her first grand-mal seizure, now known as a tonic-clonic seizure. That was her first trip to the hospital via ambulance, and into ICU. She was put on medication and through the days, weeks, and months, continued to seize.

At the age of 3, the doctors determined that Savannah has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. (Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is a type of epilepsy with multiple different types of seizures, particularly tonic (stiffening) and atonic (drop) seizures. Intellectual development is usually, but not always, impaired.) We were devastated. Savannah has been in and out of the hospital more times than we could ever count. Usually, because we can’t get the seizures to stop. This is called status epilepticus. (A dangerous condition in which epileptic seizures follow one another without recovery of consciousness between them.) It takes IV medication to stop them.

Today, Savy is 17 years old and she is unable to walk, unable to talk. She can’t control her body and she depends 100% on us to do all her daily necessities, like getting her out of the bed to dress her, change her diapers, yes diapers at 17, feeding her by her GI tube, placing her in her wheelchair so she can go to school. She now weighs 96 pounds and is 5’ 2” tall and she is in a push wheelchair. And she still has seizures. Not daily, but we never know when a seizure will hit.

We try to live a normal life with her, like taking short trips to places so she can get to know how beautiful the world is that we have to enjoy. The only way we can do that is if we have reliable transportation with a wheelchair van with a ramp. We have found out that these vehicles are way more expensive than regular vehicles. A new van can cost over $80,000 even a used van costs over $50,000. We would like a new van because we want to be able to have it for her for a very long time to show her the world around her.

Without the wheelchair van, it is very difficult and almost impossible to travel anywhere, even to doctor's appointments, drop her off or pick her up from school, or take her out of the house just to enjoy going to the park or just enjoying the outdoors.

Even if we make money, it is just not enough to pay all our bills and spend our time with our daughter. With some help, we can make the best of our lives and overall we can enjoy Savy while she is with us. Any donation big or small can make a big difference in all our lives. We are grateful for the love and support we have received so far from all our friends. We thank you for your donations and support for our daughter Savannah Salas.