A Shuswap family has received a gift that will make life easier after a very tough year.
“It is life-changing for our family,” said Connie Phillips.
On Thursday, Phillips was handed the keys to a 2002 wheelchair-accessible Chrysler Town and Country van, which will help transport her daughter, Helena.
In the fall of 2023, the then-17-year-old girl fell very ill.
Her condition worsened over the course of several months and the teenager lost her mobility.
She was diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder.
“It’s a condition that can best be described like MS,” Phillips told Global News. “Her brain is not sending the signals to her legs to walk.”
Phillips said that transporting the teen has been challenging.
It first requires her to lift her daughter and carry her into a regular vehicle and then disassemble the wheelchair.
“You’d have to take her wheelchair out, rebuild it, load her in, get her into the appointment,” Phillips said. “Then when you get out, load her in, take the wheelchair apart and then load her back into the vehicle.”
The specialized van was donated by Vernon resident Jeff McSweeney.
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“It was just a feel-good thing to do, you know we wanted to help somebody,” McSweeney said.
McSweeney owns NOW Shuttle, a wheelchair accessible transportation service.
“In this business, I see people where, you know, their lives are changed in an instant,” McSweeney said. “I have a friend in a wheelchair, she’s been there 27 years. A horse fell on her. Another client was cleaning his gutters. He fell off the ladder and he’s a quadriplegic.”
With his business growing, McSweeney bought the older model van last June, hoping to add it to his existing fleet.
However, because of its age, he was unable to get the van certified for commercial use.
McSweeney decided that instead of selling it, he would give it away.
After a call-out through media, he received about 20 submissions but it was Phillips’ story that moved him the most.
“Just because we all have children and our kids are healthy,” said an emotional McSweeney. “When you see somebody who goes through something, it’s just nice to be able to reach out and help them.”
It’s a gesture Phillips is incredibly grateful for.
“This is huge,” Phillips said. “I mean we have so many more appointments coming up and now I have a way of getting her there safe:”
