Florida Girl with VWD gets “Hope”
November 25, 2013; Posted by: webleed staff
A Jacksonville teen who suffers from von Willebrand Disease (vWD) and osteogenesis imperfecta (a condition that makes her bones easily breakable and forces her t0 use a wheelchair or walker to get around) is getting a newly remodeled, wheelchair accessible bathroom as a result of being the subject of one newspaper’s story.
14 year old Dawn Boles was the feature in last year’s “Hope Fund”, a program through The Florida Times-Union that allows families throughout the region to have their voices heard.
Through the Hope Fund, Dawn got the opportunity to meet some of her favorite WWE wrestlers and has received some help in her daily life from Canine Companions who have provided her with a service dog – a black Labrador retriever named Woody.
Dawn’s bathroom had not been handicapped accessible, which made it difficult for her to use the bathroom or even take a shower. Now, the Hope Fund, partnered with HandsOn Jacksonville is changing all that.
“They haven’t done it yet, but they’re in the process,” Barbara Antill, Dawn’s grandmother told the Times-Union. “They’re trying to make sure they get it right … so her wheelchair can go straight in there.”
Further Reading: vWD infographic; Osteogenisis Imperfecta
Photo Credit: Will Dickey/Florida Times-Union
