Meet Gabe!
He's five years old and was diagnosed with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy.
His journey has included many of ups and downs, his progress has been anything but a straight line including many setbacks along the way. He has been through the ringer with many interventions ranging from relatively minor, including bracing and casting, to more moderate such as the ~150 hours of Physical Therapy per year and the Botox injections, to the major Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy surgery he had in January 2021 at age of 3.
This major neurological surgery initially created a giant step backwards (as was expected) but for hopes of huge progress over the next few years. Directly after surgery Gabe was physically set back to a level of a newborn, having to regain strength to do very basic things like controlling his head and sitting up independently. The family was in the hospital for 7 weeks for recovery and all-day rehabilitation to regain strength and stamina. Gabe stunned the entire medical staff with the amount of progress he made in those 7 weeks and left everyone in awe as his hard work paid off and he was able to independently walk out of the hospital.
Unfortunately, regardless of all the progress we have seen since the surgery this is going to be a lifelong battle for Gabe.
Gabe is an active little guy and plays baseball in the Miracle League of Plymouth and enjoys horseback riding. He loves riding his Power Wheels around the neighborhood, spending time with his brother and playing school with anyone that will be his student. Gabe is constantly on the go and would rather be doing yard work than watch TV any day. He just recently started Jr. Kindergarten, with riding the bus being his favorite part. This active little boy refuses to let any of his limitations slow him down! We know this resilient and inspiring kid will change the world for the better one day.!
We're taking Gabe and his family to Disney World with Jay's Juniors with the help of our amazing partners: Kroger, Planet Fitness, Canterbury Village, Masco, Hollywood Casino at Greektown, Emagine Entertainment, Absopure, DFCU Financial and Angels of Hope.