Mom got the concept from Pinterest, and dad made it on a budget with simple pieces. And the chair has completely transformed their baby’s life. Evelyn Moore’s parents couldn’t afford to wait to see if their insurance would cover a pediatric wheelchair.
They needed one right away.
So, dad built one himself for $100 using instructions he saw on Pinterest.
“There weren’t too many options that were available,” Evelyn’s mother, Kimberly Moore, told ABC News.
“When my daughter was diagnosed, we were more worried about keeping her alive than getting the insurance to get it [a wheelchair] covered. We saw something on Pinterest and Brad [my husband] said he could build it. Within a day or two, it was done.”
Evelyn was paralyzed below her arms due to a spine tumor and was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at the age of four months.
That didn’t go down well with Mom and Dad.
Evelyn was whizzing around in her wheelchair at the age of one.
Kimberly Moore described her as “very fearless.”
“She’s pretty fearless,” Kimberly Moore said. “She’ll go in her wheelchair on the top of a hill, let go and put her hands in the air, then catch herself when she gets to the bottom.
She’s a good little baby. She’s been through a lot and she’s just trying to get back to what normal looks like.”
Her wheelchair is constructed out of a cutting board, castor wheels, and a Bumbo chair.
Evelyn’s life has been transformed by the chair.
“She’s very happy,” Pediatric oncologist Bev Wilson of Stollery Children’s Hospital in Alberta said.
“She moves around and visits nurses she wants too see and other kids. She knows everybody. It’s made her mobile in a way she otherwise wouldn’t be able to be. She gets to explore what she’d want to explore. She’s like any other child, but she’s actually faster.”
She’s free to run around.
Evelyn’s parents had to put up a speed bump in their driveway.
“Her true person comes out when she’s in that chair,” Moore said. “She [now] has the same interactions as any other child would, being at eye level and exploring the world on the ground. … That’s what she is able to do in moving around. It’s pretty exciting.”
Her prospects are endless.
Evelyn was even allowed to bring her wheelchair to “Camp Beat It.” Evelyn began walking with the assistance of her machines at the age of 2 1/2.
“I’ve been told many times that my daughter is paralyzed, which I understand,” Moore told CBC. “But that doesn’t mean she can’t walk. That doesn’t mean she can’t live a life that has quality to it. Really, it’s limitless.”
Evelyn is the youngest client at ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre because of this.
The non-profit organization assists people who are paralyzed in achieving milestones such as speaking, singing their names, and brushing their hair.
Evelyn walks for an hour on a treadmill while supported by a lifting harness three to five times per week.
As a result, she now has bladder control, a stronger immune system, and stronger muscles. She can even kick her leg somewhat.
“The best part is she doesn’t know it’s working out,” Gill says. “To her, it’s fun. She’s playing with a purpose. She’s turning into this sassy little lady. She’s going to take on the world and it’s awesome,” said ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre Co-founder Bean Gill.