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My name is Jason Marshall. I recently competed
in the web's first competitive reality show,
"The Next Internet Millionaire".
It was down to me and three other finalists to see who
would walk away with a Joint Venture partnership with Joel Comm, author of
the New York Times Bestseller "The Adsense Code". I found myself in the
judgment room being grilled as to why I should stay.
Little did they know that my mind had already been
made up. I eliminated them. That's right... I sent myself home.
Say what!?
You heard that correctly. I sent myself home as
well as gave up my chance at $25,000 and the opportunity to be turned into
a millionaire.
It's not just a thought anymore; you now know it's
true... I'm crazy. That's right, I'm crazy about what I do.
I work full time as
a one-to-one aide for my "main man" Petey.
Petey is a 12 year old boy who suffers from a fatal
disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This disease is causing his
muscles to be steadily eaten away.
The effects and symptoms arrived like clockwork. The
first symptoms hit as he began to have difficulty in getting up and to
lose his balance when he was five years old. Walking became progressively
harder, and it was by age 11 he became bound to a wheelchair full time.
Coming into his late teens, Petey will experience
respiratory failure and live dependent on breathing assistance. Cardiac
failure is inevitable and his life span... early twenties.
Petey has been in a wheelchair full time now for 2
years. To be honest and personal, I get sick to my stomach watching
the limitations come.
Seriously, take a moment to think of the thousands
of things you do in your day that you take for granted, such as
...lifting your arm
...rolling over
...tying your shoelaces
...sitting up
...heck, even fixing a wedgie
...and many more.
Well, this is his reality! Those are only a fraction
of the things Petey CAN'T do on a daily basis.
Here is a blog post Petey wrote...
Reading Petey's own words breaks my heart, and makes
me want to do whatever I can for him.
So, I've dedicated myself to taking him places.
It's the least I can do to try to give him as normal a life as possible.
Over the years that I've known Petey, we've gone
almost everywhere you can think of, including the movies, bowling,
horseback riding, shooting paintballs, various restaurants, swimming, and
the beach, among many other things.
With limitations coming one after another, Petey
actually got to taste some freedom of his own. In September 2007, on the
first day of school, I surprised him with a power wheelchair.
That's right...
"Petey's Got Power"
What an amazing difference it has made in his life.
He can finally experience some independence.
Now instead of having me push him around all day where
he is at my will, he can go where ever he wants when he wants to. The
first day he had it I had to chase him down the hallway.
He has also been able to go with his brothers and
sisters to the local youth group on Friday nights. It's only 2 blocks away
and the place has an elevator. He loves it!
Even though this is the best thing that has ever
happened to him it does come with a drawback, which is why we're
here today.
You see, I am no longer able to transport Petey now
that he has a powerchair. Going places has become near impossible.
A few weeks ago, I finally got fed up and tried to put
his chair into someone's SUV. With 3 people, 200+ lbs of chair, 2 tries,
and a chiropractic visit we were able to get the chair in (on its side).
There's got to be a better way...
An Accessible Van!
So I began to search and search and search. Let's just
say these vans are not cheap. Brand new you're looking at spending
at least $40,000. My wife and I cannot afford to take a payment like that
on.
Why not Petey's family, you ask? Well, let me
touch on that briefly.
Petey is the second youngest of 9 children. His mother
is single and doing the best she can. They don't have the luxury of owning
a car. No one in the house even has a license.
I decided to take the burden upon myself and do
whatever I can to get that van.
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