Tony Needs A New Set Of Wheels

Tony Carpenter is a young man with Cerebral Palsy and a seizure disorder who uses specialized wheelchairs (a Quickie Iris and Permobil m300) for everything in his daily living. He needs customized seating for both due to his scoliosis and the full spinal fusion surgery he had to correct it.

The power wheelchair gives him independence because he can drive it using specially designed head controls, and keeps him at the perfect angle to avoid aspirating his food and getting pneumonia because of his dysphagia. But due to the effort it takes Tony to drive it, which tires him easily, and the fact that some places are not completely accessible to him when he is in this extremely heavy chair, he can’t use this one all the time. He then needs his manual chair.

Tony's current manual wheelchair breaks down, and his dad does everything he can to repair it, but it truly needs replaced. Insurance won't cover the manual chair, because the power chair is considered his primary chair by his insurance, and insurance won’t maintain more than one chair. This leaves the family to try to figure out how to pay for an essential $12,000 medical device. They are hard-working, genuine, good people, and right now they need the community to come together to help them give Tony a new wheelchair.

If you have ever seen Tony smile, I am sure you will want to help as much as I do. Tony is the best human being you could ever ask to meet, and he deserves to have this medically necessary wheelchair which will improve his quality of life and his health, and will give his family the peace of mind they deserve.

Any amount is appreciated. Let's get this done.