CPRF helps Salina girl gain new independence with power wheelchair
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The push of a button gives 8-year-old Annahstayzia Grizzle from Salina a new power.
“It takes a lot of practice.”
This summer she is upgrading from a manual wheelchair to a power wheelchair.
“It’s vital for her life because she needs that independence and that self of like, ‘I can do it on my own,'” said Brook Swarts, Annahstayzia’s mom.
Annahstayzia was born 30 weeks premature and had an in utero stroke.
“It took about five minutes to resuscitate her. During that five minutes, she lost a lot of oxygen to her brain, which created periventricular leukomalacia, which is a condition where she has cysts on the white brain matter next to her ventricular in her brain,” Swarts explained.
It led Annahstayzia to a cerebral palsy diagnosis and other disabilities.
“She wakes up every day, and she tries no matter what obstacles are in her way,” Swarts said.
Her family has worked with the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation for five years to get Annahstayzia in a power wheelchair.
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“They’re gonna see just how smart she is because she’s gonna be able to go with people and be with people and be on their level,” said David Kemp, VP of Technical Services at CPRF. “Probably may be for the first time.”
CPRF built the chair to fit her needs.
“As she gets older, we’re going to be able to adjust the chair so it gets better and faster, and faster and faster and more functional for her,” Kemp explained.
The nonprofit makes about 400 wheelchairs a year to give away.
Years of practice and work puts Annahstayzia in the driver’s seat of her own life.
CPRF is hosting its River City Roll, a casino night fundraiser, on Saturday, June 22, between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. Click here to get tickets.
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