By CAROLINE STRAINIG
A PORT Macquarie mother has put out a desperate plea to the community to help with the cost of special equipment and caring for her severely disabled son.
“I am trying to help my family and not expecting a hand out, just a hand up,” mother-of-four Tracey Reynolds said.
Tracey moved to Port Macquarie with children from Kangaroo Valley in September last year. The move was prompted by their home being under threat of repossession by the bank.
Her youngest son, Finn, now five, was born 13 weeks prematurely and suffers from severe cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia. He is wheelchair bound and unable to sit up, crawl, walk or eat independently. He has to be fed via a ‘PEG button’ protruding from his tummy. Finn’s cerebral palsy has also rendered him incontinent.
Finn’s extensive hospitalisation, surgeries and ongoing medical costs have taken a grave toll on Tracey’s career and finances. Tracey had to give up her job as a police officer to become a full-time carer. Her marriage also foundered.
She and her now ex-husband, Nick White, who is also a police officer, financially bottomed out because of the many bills and lost their vehicle, home and investment property.
While they are now partially back on their feet and have already received some community support, transport remains a major issue. Nick organised a car loan for a Kia Grande Carnival so they could have the vehicle modified for wheelchair use by Automobility. However, adapting it will cost $41,780 over and above the car.
“We have applied for the early release of superannuation under compassionate grounds to assist us to fund the conversion,” Tracey said.
“We have also applied to Variety who have $10,000 grants for this type of conversion, but will not know until late April if this application has been successful or not.
“There is no assistance through the government (Centrelink, Enable) or any other bodies to help us and we are in desperate need of help.”
Tracey said she understood she and her family were just one of many hard-luck stories and she found it hard to ask the community for help – until she thought of Finn.
“But this is my little boy and I’m not just his mum, but his advocate and his arms and legs, so if I don’t ask, then the answer will always be no,” she said.
Tracey said living with Finn could be both emotionally rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time.
“Finn tries 10 times as hard as other little ones, to do the simple things we often take for granted, and he does it with the biggest smile on his face and without any pity” she said.
Donations to help Finn can be deposited at any branch of the Commonwealth Bank in the account ‘Finn Elijah Reynolds’, BSB 062 592, account 1076 696 70.
If you can help in any other way, please email Tracey at tracey_reynolds79@hotmail.com
