Places to go, but no way to get there
Staff writer
An 18-year-old from Florence hopes to go more places and take in more experiences once she has a van equipped for her motorized wheelchair.
Getting the van means raising money for it.
A happy, smiley young woman, Taisha Sanchez is a senior at Hillsboro High School, where she is able to take advantage of special classes that teach her how best to function with the physical limitations she was born with.
“If anyone has reason to be angry, it’s her, but she’s not,” her mother, Tina Sanchez, said. “Everywhere she goes, she leaves a little sparkle. I could be having a hard day, and I come in and I look at Taisha.”
“I roll with the flow,” Taisha said.
When Taisha’s brothers came into a room with her and started horsing around, she threw her head back for a hearty laugh.
At school, Taisha is taught academic, social, and daily living skills she will be expected to use during and after high school.
She rehearses social and academic skills to help her in work, recreational, and life settings.
“I love going to school,” she said.
“Taisha is always positive and excited to come,” her teacher, Kurt Herrel, said. “She helps lift others up no matter how good or bad she might be feeling.”
Besides going to school, Taisha loves to sing and attend church youth group on Wednesday nights.
She looks forward a planned youth group trip to a concert at Harman Arena Sept. 27 to hear Christian performers Zach Williams, Cain, Ben Fuller, and Matt Maher.
Her mother grew up in Florence and moved away. She returned a year and a half ago with her husband, Michael Sanchez, and their six children — Taisha; Connor Bowley, 18; Carter Bowley, 16; Tegan Sanchez, 14; Hunter Sanchez, 9; and Cashes Sanchez, 5.
Taisha has had 32 surgeries, the first immediately after she was born, and the most recent in April.
April’s operation was spinal surgery. After 10½ hours in an operating room, she looked at her mother, who had been crying during surgery, and asked, “Mom, are you OK?”
Taisha is unable to move from her waist down. Her transportation is a heavy, motorized wheelchair controlled by a joystick.
“We always say her chair is her legs,” Tina said.
When she needs to be taken from one place to another, she goes in a transport wheelchair — a lighter, smaller wheelchair designed for ease of movement.
“When she was younger, I didn’t mind. I’d just pick her up and move her around,” Tina said.
Now, at 18, lifting Taisha and moving her is not as easy as it used to be, Tina said.
A van equipped for wheelchairs would make it much easier for Taisha to go places, such as physician appointments, fishing and camping trips, concerts, and, of course, youth group.
According to Jeremiah Coleman, owner of Affordable Mobility Solutions in Wichita, wheelchair-equipped vans start in the range of $25,000 to $30,000.
A gofundme.com fundraiser has been established to help pay for a van.
Checks also can be sent to First Christian Church, 335 W 5th St, Florence KS 66851.