Every morning begins with a proud Canadian moment as students rise and sing our national anthem together. For a Grade 5 student living with cerebral palsy, that moment always came with sadness — until recently when Jaylynn Baltazar rose up with pride and joined her classmates at Mount Carmel Public School in Blytheswood.
“Exciting to experience. I never got to experience this for my whole life,” Jaylynn told CTV News.
Thanks to her new wheelchair, she enjoyed a powerful moment of independence, strength and support, “Now I get to stand with my other classmates.”
Robyn Kroeker, an educational assistant, was touched by the moment, “It was all very emotional for us and the smile on her face just said it all.”
Kroeker has seen Jaylynn’s already infectious energy amplify, “She’s very bubbly to begin with, but she has a lot more confidence. She’s telling me, ‘No, I want to be independent.’”
Jaylynn’s previous chair only allowed her to be a sitting position.
“I wouldn’t be able to stand up,” she explained. “She (her mom) would have to hold on to me while I was standing.”
This chair allows Jaylynn to be upright, reclined, and everything in between.
The stand assist wheelchair has given Jaylynn independence to do more things, including cook for her little sister, “I can cook her eggs.”
The ability to stand has helped tighten the mother and daughter bond.
“She loves to cook,” Laura Wallingford said. “She loves to help around the house or go for a walk. We can dance in the kitchen.”
The extra feature to stand cost over $7,000, which the family paid for with help from the John McGivney Centre. The family also received some help from Easter Seals and an ongoing GoFundMe campaign to help retrofit a van.
“It’s definitely, an investment but an investment worthwhile,” Wallingford said.
The chair also has Bluetooth.
“Controlling, like TV and music, things like that. We’ll unlock as we explore more,” Wallingford said with a smile.
For now, a fun feature of the new chair? “I like to honk my horn and scare my EA,” Jaylynn said with a laugh as she proceeded to honk.
