Wheelchair-Bound Woman Reaches Fundraising Goal for Van

A wheelchair-bound 29-year-old Waterbury woman might have a new van with a ramp to accommodate her wheelchair as early as this month thanks to some generous donors who made contributions through the crowd-funding Web site GoFundMe.

Lismarie Echevarria was born in Puerto Rico with spina bifida, which prevents her from walking or moving her legs. She has gone through more than 18 surgeries and was clinically dead three times after going into cardiac arrest, which preventing her from getting a necessary surgery at birth, she said on her GoFundMe page.

"I have no sensation from the waist down that is why I am in a wheel chair I have been like this since I was born," she said on the website. "When I was born I died three times in [sic] the operating table because doctors took me for surgery to put in my head what is called a VP shunt because the liquid from the spine was going up to my head and made my head grow and so the doctors needed to put that shunt in my head to make that liquid go back down." Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

The Mazda Echevarria's family has was too small and doesn't have a ramp to make it accessible with a wheelchair, she said on the GoFundMe page, so Echevarria is looking for a van with a wheelchair ramp to help her get into the car to get to her doctor's appointments safely.

Her goal was to raise $5,000 for a down payment. As of Tuesday afternoon, people have donated just a little bit more than that.

"I have already reached my goal $5,000 but that $5,000 is only a part of the cost of the van- it is just a down payment but then I will have monthly payments any additional funds over the $5,000 will help with those costs. The van ranges from $45.000 to $30,000 Toyota sienna that is what I was told by the representative at the dealer," the GoFundMe page says.

For more information, you can visit her Go Fund Me page at www.gofundme.com/lismarie.

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