It’s always been a struggle for Stacey Massey to push her wheelchair-bound daughter Courtney up the cracked and uneven driveway of their Berkeley home.
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Last week, the mother-of-four’s worst fears were realised when the front wheel of the chair hit a rut, tipping it - and Courtney - onto the concrete.
Since then the 16-year-old, who has Cerebral Palsy and a rare skin disorder that causes her skin to blister with the slightest friction, has screamed whenever she has to go out on the driveway.
It’s prompted Ms Massey and Courtney’s father James Lee to seek community help by setting up an online fundraiser to try to cover the cost of a new driveway.
‘‘Around two years ago, it became too difficult for my partner and I to lift Courtney all the time and so we received funding to get her a wheelchair,’’ Ms Massey said.
‘‘We also had a ramp installed, out the back due to the height of the house. However it’s a difficult process to wheel Courtney up the long driveway as it’s so uneven, muddy and cracked and it can be really dangerous.
‘‘We put up with it as we could not raise the money needed to repair or replace it, but after the fall we knew we really had to do something.
‘‘I was lucky my partner was home at the time, because I could not physically lift Courtney and the wheelchair up on my own and worry about it happening again.’’
The couple hopes to raise $20,000 via a gofundme campaign (www.gofundme.com/7y2j7yjv8s), and more than $800 has been raised in the first three days.
Ms Massey said while a smooth driveway might not be a gamechanger for most families, it would make all the difference for hers.
Courtney is the couple’s ‘‘miracle little girl’’. Born by emergency Caesarean, she had a stroke six hours later and was officially declared braindead at Westmead Children’s Hospital at three days old.
Her parents had organised her funeral, but when the life support was removed Courtney began to breathe on her own and was eventually able to go home.
‘‘She’s battled her whole life and she also has to deal with the skin disorder (epidermolysis bullosa dystrophic) which results in painful blisters all over her body, and even internally in her oesophagus,’’ Ms Massey said.
‘‘She can only eat pureed food and we have to be careful what clothes we put her in so they don’t rub too much, so a fall from her chair is disastrous.
‘‘Being able to put in a new driveway, and knowing that we could get her in and out of the house safely would make life so much easier.’’
