Alex recently turned 4 years old. He is a cheerful child, always with a smile on his face and in his eyes.

Delia, his mother, takes him to a rehabilitation center. Due to the pandemic, the center was closed for most of 2020, and this year it has been open since September.

At the center, he does physical therapy, draws, eats and plays outside, where his favorite activity is swinging. After the program, he goes home with Delia. Sometimes, if the weather is cold or rainy, the two travel by bus, but most of the time Delia walks, and Alex moves around in the wheelchair he received from Motivation. It gives him a lot more independence, compared to the stroller he used before he got in touch with Motivation. In addition, “all sorts of comments are heard on the street, the other children shout at the baby if they see him in the stroller.”

Delia found out about Motivation Romania Foundation from other parents at the center. Before he received the wheelchair, as a donation, Alex depended on his mother for every little thing and move he wanted to make: “Mommy, Mommy, take me to the kitchen, take me there. After a while, he stopped saying anything; he would just say where you’d put him, and I noticed that he was getting sadder and sadder. I called Motivation, explained the situation, and someone came to our house. He measured Alex and I soon got the right wheelchair for him. “Because he is growing fast, this year Alex received a second wheelchair from Motivation, according to his needs, through the Wheelchair Fund program.

Alex was born in Italy, where his mother was working at that time. During the first 11 months of life, his motor development seemed normal. Then, Delia noticed that Alex was not feeling well. However, the pediatrician told that everything was normal and Delia should not to worry. A few months later, however, the regression became more and more visible, so Delia came to Romania with him and went to see a neurologist. Following a genetic test, Alex was diagnosed with Type II Spinal Amyotrophy, and today he is being treated with Spinraza, getting injections every four months.

At home, Alex is an active child: he draws, plays, and helps Delia clean up. If the weather is nice,  they go out to one of the two nearby playgrounds.

He loves the company of other children and enjoys every meeting with the kindergarten gang. In the company of his colleagues and educators, he participates in all the activities, which are adapted so that Alex can join.

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Take a look below, at some pictures showing a regular day for Alex.

The story of Alex was written within the project “Advocacy for community access for wheelchair users”, implemented by Motivation Romania Foundation in partnership with Segoia Association, with financial support of Active Citizens Fund Romania, a program funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the SEE Grants 2014-2021. The project aims to support the social inclusion of people with disabilities by improving the mobility and health of wheelchair users.

More information about the project can be found by accessing the link https://motivation.ro/en/abilities-and-rights-matter/.

Working together for an inclusive Europe.

_{Story written by: Bogdan Dinca, Erika Garnier
Pictures: Bogdan Dinca}