Parents make a DIY wheelchair for their one-year-old little girl

August 20, 2016  21:08

When 13-month-old Evelyn Moore, from Edmonton, Canada, was just four months, doctors noticed a lump protruding from her spine that was later diagnosed as a stage four neuroblastoma tumour.

The little girl went through eight rounds of chemotherapy to treat the tumour but after hearing that she was in remission, her parents Kim and Brad received heartbreaking news.

Evelyn's tumour had crushed her spine at T4, leaving her paralysed below her arms.

Mr and Mrs Moore wanted their daughter to have the freedom that any other toddler would have, so they decided to build her her very own wheelchair.

'I was on Pinterest and I found a really cool wheelchair,' Mrs Moore told the Canadian Press.

'I showed it to my husband and asked him if he could build it and we went to Canadian Tire and just grabbed a whole bunch of pieces.'

The chair, which is made from a kitchen cutting board, a Bumbo chair and tiny wheels from a children's bike, cost around $100 to make. 

Mrs Moore said Evelyn absolutely loves it.

'She went backwards first, then she went forwards, then she figured out how to turn and we now have a speed bump in the middle of our living room because she just goes that fast,' Mrs Moore said, adding that they have been as positive as they can.

'You go home and you cry and you come back the next day and you be the strongest mum and dad you can ever be because you have no other option.'

Evelyn started using her wheelchair at seven months and has been zipping around in it ever since.

Mrs Moore said people are 'shocked and happy' to see Evelyn and that she treats her daughter like any other one-year-old.

Evelyn wheels behind Mrs Moore wherever they go - even if it means regular activities like shopping take a little longer.

Evelyn is now learning to use a ZipZac, a manufactured version of her own wheelchair. 

Mr Moore is proud of his little girl and wants her to know that she can achieve anything she sets her mind to.

'The willpower that she has, and how adaptable she is to her situation, is something I never really expected. And how quickly she’s grasping it has really blown me away... nothing can stop her,' he said.

 

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