Racine family in need of van to help transport 3-year-old with special needs

NOW: Racine family in need of van to help transport 3-year-old with special needs
NEXT:

RACINE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Racine family is in need, a year after their toddler was diagnosed with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy. It's a struggle to get him to his doctor appointments -- they've outgrown their car and have no way to pay for a van.

Alyssa Tucker's got the routine down. Six times a week, every week, she and her sweet 3-year-old head out the door for physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy, something Liam's been getting almost since birth.

"You ready? We're gonna go in mama's car for a minute, okay?" Tucker asked Liam.

Piling what a special needs child needs into a Chevy Spark is not so easy. 

"It's like a step up from a smart car is basically where we're at, and at the time, when I got the car, he didn't have a wheelchair," said Tucker. "He was, he was tiny, you know." 

Liam Wendorf was 11 weeks premature, weighing just 3.5 lbs. at birth. 

"And they said that they saw some brain damage and that most likely there was gonna be something. We just didn't know what at the time," said Tucker.

The diagnosis came just after his first birthday -- quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy. 

"I cried, for days and days I cried. I was like, he's gonna have a wheelchair. It's gonna be the worst thing ever," said Tucker. 

A year later, they've adjusted to the wheelchair. 

"These help because he takes his feet and he pushes them forward and it bends his ankles in, so these just help keep them straight so that they can develop how they need to and everything," Tucker said.

But what can't be adjusted is the car.

Tucker quit her job to take care of Liam full-time. Money's tight and the family can't afford the van they desperately need. 

"For him to be able to have a quality of life where he can practice using his gait trainer, practice using his standard therapies at other people's houses, I have to be able to get him places, and right now I can't," said Tucker.

A GoFundMe has been created to help Liam and his family get the van they need. You can find it by clicking here

Share this article: