By Brendan Rees
Sarah Taylor has a smile that “lights up the lives of those around her”.
Unfortunately, the 28-year-old of Cranbourne West, who is confined to a wheelchair, desperately needs a new van to get her around as her current vehicle, which has clocked up 300,000 kilometres, nears the end of its life.
Friends and carers of Sarah, who was born with severe intellectual and physical disabilities, have set up a Go Fund Me page to raise $60,000 so she can have a new wheelchair-friendly vehicle.
Sarah, who is non-verbal and fed through a tube, has lived with her grandparents since she was six months old, and despite being elderly themselves they have “done a great job” of providing the best care for her.
A new van which can fit Sarah’s 200kg electric wheelchair would help her attend doctor’s appointments as well as enjoy social outings.
So rare is her unique combination of disabilities which includes cerebral palsy, quadriplegia, and Holoprosencephaly where the brain fails to divide properly into the right and left hemispheres –
that only 22 people are born with these each year.
Sarah has continued to surprise doctors and defy the odds of her expected lifespan of five to 10 years.
According to the GoFundMe page, which has so far raised $750, Sarah “can make just about anyone’s heart melt when her face lights up”.
“She absolutely loves music, getting out and about, enjoying movies and shopping and yawning so she can laugh at you when you yawn too!” the fundraiser said.
The current van Sarah uses has a number of mechanical issues and is exempt from further modifications. The cost of a new vehicle is also out of reach for her grandparents.
While Sarah receives some funding from the National Disability Insurance Scheme, they will not cover the purchasing of a new car.
To donate visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/sarah039s-new-van?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet
