This is our gorgeous little man Cameron. He is a cheeky and boisterous little 14 year old. He was born with quadriplegia cerebral palsy, microcephaly, cortical vision impairment, intellectual and developmental delay and tracheomalacia. Cameron is unable to walk, talk, sit unaided and is completely incontinent and completely dependent on us.
In spite of all his disabilities, Cameron is a very happy, cheeky and loving boy, who actively participates in all the things that we do. He loves the beach, camping, watching TV, listening to music, playing games and hanging out with his two older brothers and his favourite food is chocolate!
Having a child with special needs puts enormous pressure not only financially but also emotionally and physically on our family. Cameron is going to be a very tall boy, already he is 160cm tall and weighs about 45kg. We currently have a hoist but it is woefully too small for him. We trialed a new hoist that will grow with Cameron and it costs $5900. We can hopefully get government assistance for $3300, but that leaves a gap we have to pay of $2600. We do not have the NDIS in this area until July 2018, and as his mother, and primary carer, I am desperate to get a new hoist. I have been diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis in my back and bulging discs and am in constant pain from the years of lifting Cam.
As his parents we have spent significant amounts of our own money to try and ensure Cam has a quality of life that any other child has. We have modified our home to accommodate his wheelchair, renovated our bathroom to accommodate his shower chair, installed a waterlift to get Cameron upstairs and the list goes on and on. It is getting harder and harder to do this on our own and we just need to ask for a little help in getting this hoist.
So we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts for any help or support you can give Cam in getting his new hoist.
From Joe and Cathy at The Bench Top Shop