Miranda Bester-McCarville is a 22-year-old woman in Prince George who has been affected by spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
“That means all four of her limbs and her fingers and her toes are not super-mobile, they don’t like bending, they don’t like flexing, so she is 90 percent wheelchair bound.” said Miranda’s cousin, Avrey King.
According to King, Miranda has recently moved into an accessible home and is independent. However, her family has a hard time getting her out of the house.
“Think about, getting someone into a wheelchair, out to the car, picking them up, putting them into the car, and then securing them and the wheelchair to make sure everybody’s safe before you take off.”
King says Miranda’s family is fundraising to buy a wheelchair-accessible vehicle to make her life easier.
“She needs a vehicle that will be tall enough that she can wheel in from the back, and you ride your wheelchair right into the middle,” King explained.
“The wheels click into the floor, and she can stay seated in her chair which is very comfortable for her, and it’s also super safe because she’s strapped in better in her wheelchair than she would be with a seatbelt.”
According to King, these vans can cost anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 for a used model, so they are hoping to raise $25,000 for Miranda.
“If we can’t find a vehicle like that, that will give us enough funding to convert a van ourselves.”
King added they’re not just doing this to raise money for Miranda, but to raise awareness for others who may not be fully mobile.
“Mobility for lots of people, not only elderly, but also young, there’s a whole wheelchair community here in Prince George, and it is a very common thing that comes up when they say, ‘I can’t join my family on this because my wheelchair can’t come,’ or ‘I can’t sit in the car to go on a road trip because it hurts my body.”
“It is a struggle that not only Miranda deals with, but lots of people that she knows and we’ve talked to also deal with this struggle.”
Avrey and her family have set up a public Facebook group, as well as a GoFundMe to raise money for the van.
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