4-Year-Old Framingham Girl Receives Wheelchair Ramp

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FRAMINGHAM – Olivia Pereira is a smiley girl, who sustained a severe brain injury at birth resulting in spastic quad cerebral palsy and blindness.

Olivia, 4, is unable to sit up, stand, feed herself, and is nonverbal. She relies on the use of her adaptive wheelchair on the van to be transported to and from school each day.

Metrowest Center for Independent Living reached out to Olivia’s mom Erin and said the Kane Family of Ashland was getting rid of a wheelchair ramp and wanted to donate it. The only problem was it was too big to transport on the back of a regular truck.

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But several people and two communities came to the rescue to deliver and install the ramp for the Pereira family of Framingham.

Lou and Dave from Metrowest Center for Independent Living, City of Framingham Access Compliance Inspector Mark Dempsey, Martin Garvey from 360 Motor Sports in Holliston, and Ashland DPW all pitched in to help load the ramp onto atruck, and transported it to Olivia’s home in Saxonville.

Waiting there was Framingham Fire Department Chief Michael Dutcher, Assistant Fire Chief John Schultz, and firefighters Andrew Rokes, Tyler Easson, Ramiro Mendonca, Keith Rovinelli to help unload it off the truck.

They donated their time to help this little warrior.

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“We are extremely grateful for all of these people. With all of the stressors in the world today it is so nice to see people helping people. We need more people like this,” said Olivia’s mom Erin.

This is going to be a game changer for Olivia, she said.

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Photos submitted to SOURCE