Andrew’s Journey

My name is Michelle, and this is the story of my incredible son Andrew. I met the love of my life Mark in early 1993. We fell in love very quickly and became inseparable. He treated me and my son Zak very well. I knew we were going to be a forever family. I was especially proud of Mark being a Marine. I found out in early October of 1993 that I was pregnant with Andrew we were all very excited. Tragedy struck 4 short months later when Mark passed away unexpectedly on January 22, 1994. I gave birth to Andrew June 30 of that same year. It was a bittersweet event, but I took comfort in the fact that I would always have a part of Mark with me in our perfect little boy. Fast forward 18 months to January 17, 1996— tragedy strikes again. Our sweet baby contracted viral encephalitis . Andrew was in a coma for 10 days on a respirator fighting for his little life. He spent 1 month in Sutter Memorial , 3 months in Oakland Children’s hospital followed by 2 weeks in Stanford. Andrew was never to be the same again.
He could no longer walk, feed himself or learn to speak . The infection had taken his abilities to do these things we all take for granted and some would take a long time in coming back. Andrew is wheelchair bound and 100% dependent on others since leaving the hospital. It has not gotten in his way of his love of life, however. He smiles more than anyone I know and loves seeing others having fun . He loves going places and seeing new things and people. He gets very excited when we have visitors and everyone, he meets leaves with a smile. He is an adult now and we need safe transportation for him. I am on assistance so coming up with a down payment for the vehicle needed to assure his safety is very difficult if not impossible for me. The van I have now I have to physically lift him in and out. I’m terrified I might drop him. I am asking for help to get payment for the van pictured below. I appreciate any and all help as well as the time you took to read this. Please enjoy the pictures of Andrew and enjoy your day. Be happy. Be safe and thank you once again.