Nine-year-old Silas Pierce is enjoying a newfound freedom thanks to his electric wheelchair.
The chair can raise and lower with the push of a button, which helps him to do things he couldn’t do before, like brush his teeth.
But like any other 9-year-olds, his favorite part is the speed.
“They said it can go up to 15 to 18 miles before the battery dies,” said Silas. “It makes me feel like I’m more independent because I can do more things now and it makes me feel happy.”
Silas was born with a disorder called arthrogryposis, a condition that affects the joints. In his case, arthrogryposis gives him very limited mobility in his arms and legs.
“They said he was never going to breathe, and he did, they said he was never going to be able to stand and he did,” said his mom, Jen.
Jen says he continues to beat the odds.
His love for drawing has proven Silas to be quite the artist. He has even found his way into the world of coding.
He's a great student and now dreams about what he will do next with his chair, but there is only one problem.
“This chair we are not able to break down and fold up and just throw it in the back of a trunk,” said Jen.
The family is in need of a wheelchair-accessible van with a hydraulic lift. Otherwise, his power chair can only be used at home.
“Everywhere he goes, people love him because he just exudes this love for people and confidence and joy for life and he doesn’t let things stop him or get him down,” said his grandma, Bonnie.
Bonnie made a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising money for the van. She says most used ones under 6,000 miles cost around $40,000 to $50,000.
The fundraiser quickly got the attention of the Kyrene C.I. Waggoner PTO board.
“Essentially he needs resources in order to learn and grow effectively at school and I thought we need to support him and his family any way we can,” said PTO CO-President Meghnn Powell.
“You’re around Silas for 30 seconds and he’s a ray of sunshine,” said PTO CO-President Shannon Winer. “As soon as we found out his family was trying to raise money for this, we immediately wanted to support them in any way we could.”
So, they spread the word on social media and then Silas’ closest friends did the same in class.
“We told our class about it so they can tell their parents about it. We definitely want to get him the money to get the lift and the van, everything for him, 'cause he’s been a great friend to us,” said Mack Fredericks.
They’ve now raised nearly $20,000. While they’re not at their goal yet, the love from their community has provided hope it won’t be long.
“It’d be so cool if we could personally say thank you to each one, so thank you to all of you,” said Bonnie.
“It’s so amazing and it would life-changing for me if we can get this van,” said Silas.