Family and friends of Jacob Norwood are raising money to pay for a wheelchair accessible van.

As most of you know, we recently took part in a contest sponsored by NMEDA (National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association) for a new adapted van. Unfortunately, we weren’t one of the winning families but that won’t stop us! We have started fundraising with the assistance of HelpHOPELive and are committed to raising what we need to get a new van for Jacob.

Jacob is an eleven year old boy with FOXG1 Syndrome, a rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorder with severe cognitive and physical delays. He is 1 of only 159 known cases of FOXG1 in the world. He is non-mobile and non-verbal, has a feeding tube, is legally blind, has frequent seizures and is missing brain tissue. He functions at the level of a 12 month old and relies on a wheelchair for mobility, as well as an assortment of other medical equipment for daily life. Jacob is our hero.
Why is Jacob our hero? He is a silent teacher. He teaches patience, resilience, compassion, hope, flexibility, love, and so much more. Not only has he inspired our community to raise funds for a wheelchair accessible swing at the town park, but he has also inspired us to join other families and start the International FOXG1 Foundation (www.foxg1.com) to help research the disorder. Jacob is a pleasure to be with; he is happy, loves to laugh, enjoys spending time with his parents and sister, and has even developed his own way of saying “I love you”. Jacob is pure joy.