A life changing gift: those were the words mum Karina of Tewantin used when she was presented with a hydraulic wheelchair lift for her daughter, Sunny, by Tewantin Noosa Lions Club board members, Peter and David.
Born with an exceptionally rare form of chromosome translocation, seven year old Sunny has faced many medical difficulties to date. Her future is yet another unknown for the family to deal with. Recently another issue arose when Sunny became too heavy for Karina to lift in and out of the family car. This usually left Karina with the option of getting someone in to care for Sunny while she was out or simply not go out. Karina can now easily move Sunny in and out of the modified car, which has made family outings for Sunny and her two siblings a common rather than rare event. Costing around $11,500 for the lift and car conversion the funding was jointly met by the Australian Lions Foundation, the government and Tewantin Noosa Lions Club. While Sunny’s future is uncertain it has bought great pleasure to the family to see how she has blossomed in the last 12 months. She now attends Nambour Special School and, in Karina’s words, “she brings us so much joy”.
