By Kirsty RosS
LITTLE Sean Kronk is living proof of the value of fund raising.
The five-year-old’s life changed two years ago when the Lions Club of Werribee gave him a walker.
Sean’s parents, Michael and Liza Kronk, of Hoppers Crossing also have a two-year-old daughter, Millicent, and are expecting their third within two weeks.
Sean, their eldest, has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and was recently diagnosed with pancreatitis.
The cerebral palsy means Sean can’t control his movement and is tube fed through his stomach.
Liza described the change in her son’s life as “amazing” after receiving the $12,000 Hart Walker – named after its English inventor David Hart.
“Sean has always wanted to stand up,” she said.
“If you picked him up, he always tried to move his legs and stand up. When he first got the walker, after six days of training to step one leg at a time, he just took off.”
Sean has spent much of his young life in the Royal Children’s Hospital, including a three-week stint earlier this month due to a bad reaction to a new epilepsy medicine.
“He was making all these sounds – he was in pain but couldn’t speak,” said Liza.
“We took him to the hospital and he had tests all day, he was put straight on to drips and morphine … when they found out he had pancreatitis.
“The epilepsy medicine can have rare side effects like liver problems but it’s very, very, rare to get pancreatitis,” Liza said.
After three weeks in hospital, Sean was rapt to get back to his friends and teachers at Altona North Kindergarten last week.
He lost three and a half kilograms during the illness and barely fits into the special stroller he relies on to get around.
It has more than 1000 moving parts with harnesses for his arms, pelvis and legs.
Liza said the walker should last about five years and is adjusted as he grows.
But Sean is growing taller quicker than most his age, and already stands at 107 centimetres.
At a golf fund raising day last week, the Lions Club of Werribee raised another $10,000 which will go toward another Hart Walker.
Bob Kochevatkin, who coordinates the Hart Walker program with the Lions Club Children’s Mobility Foundation, said they are busy choosing their new candidate.
The Hart Walker costs $12,000 all up, and the group are committed to raising every last cent.
