About Lucy
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
Lucy is a 21 year old young woman who lives in Arusha, TZ. She was diagnosed with diastematomyelia, a very rare condition which leads to longitudinal splitting of the spinal cord. She was receiving physiotherapy services but in 2015 she started experiencing weakness in the legs and the sessions stopped mainly because of expenses and she then started doing home exercises where she is being helped by her relatives. Her condition continued to worsen to the extent that she is now unable to walk and she has weakness in the arms as well. Currently she needs help with most of her daily activities. Lucy is a university student at IAA University in Arusha. The greatest challenge she is experiencing now is the difficulty in traveling from home to the university due to lack of wheelchair.
After receiving our wheelchair, Lucy’s quality of life has greatly improved. She says school life is now easier with the wheelchair because before her friends used to carry her from the car to class. She typically stayed in the classrooms all day long until evening when her uncle would come to take her home in his car. With the wheelchair Lucy no longer stays in one class all day long and she is able to access most areas of the university. Because the tables at her universities cannot be used with the wheelchair we made a special tray/table for which is attached to her wheelchair, so her wheelchair is also her desk at school! Mobility is truly transforming lives!

