Fiona Italiano

My name is Tonja, and our story is about determination, victory, defeating odds, second chances; all sprinkled with faith, HoPE, and miracles. This is the story about our daughter, Fiona Marcella Italiano.

At age 37, I had a horrible emergency surgery. Lost 3/4th of my body’s blood and the surgeon said I almost lost my life. Our dr told me I would never be able to conceive a child, but at 44 years of age, my fiancée Anthony and I found out we were expecting. We were ecstatic! At my 20 week pregnancy check I was told by three doctors that Fiona had Down syndrome, a rare heart defect, and a rare brain abnormality called Holoprosencephaly. Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is normally not compatible of life. Based on the HPE diagnosis, Fiona had a 3% chance of survival and 1% chance to live past 6 months of age. Fiona has defied the odds and will be 8 on October 29th.

Born with a fiery spirit, Fiona has beat the odds that doctor’s predicted. Fiona spent the first 17 months of her life in and out of the hospital and was left with a feeding tube, unable to lift her head, unable to sit up or have any form of independent mobility; she struggled to survive.

When Fiona just turned 7 years old, I developed breast cancer. Being the proactive mother that I am, while fighting for my own life, I kept focused on Fiona and began to envision Fiona walking. Feverishly, I began researching for ways to help my daughter walk. This research led me to a company out of Canada called Trexo. Trexo Robotics is a company that manufactures robotic gait trainers. The robotic gait trainers provide support to a child in an upright position, and assists them, within a bracing system, to walk independently. There is no other product like this.

I recognized the great opportunity that the gait trainer would provide for Fiona to walk independently. Despite the fact that Fiona is wheelchair bound, and is dependent for her mobility, when I stand her in an upright position, she moves her feet and shows a strong desire to walk. I had the conviction that if I could get this gait trainer for Fiona, in time she WILL walk. Her walking may look different, but it would be walking, and this is our dream for Fiona to gain the independence to walk.

From a funding source, we are blessed with this robotic walker for 4 months. In this 4 months, we must raise funds to purchase the robotic walker for Fiona. The cost of this robotic gait trainer is $35,000 and we have just 3 months remaining to raise this money. If we do not raise this money, this robotic walker will be taken from Fiona and returned to the manufacturer in Canada. Fiona is living on “borrowed time” with the robotic walker.

Fiona has already made great strides. Once able to only walk the short length of a few feet with her normal gate trainer, she is currently making amazing progress with the robotic walker and walking the equivalency of a football field!! It is miraculous! I have seen her fiery spirit and determination to succeed in walking independence and would like for her to have the opportunity to continue to advance her walking skills with the use of the robotic walker.

Please bless Fiona with this wish to walk by donating to our fund to purchase the Trexo robotic walker.

To see more of Fiona walking in her Trexo, please join us at “Team Fiona” on Facebook or “TeamFiona_awishtowalk” on TicTok. Thank you so much for taking the time and reading our story.

Family and friends of Fiona Italiano are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with Catastrophic Illness.

Fiona has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the GIVE button. And please share Fiona’s page on your social media platforms so others may consider a donation.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!