'Brianna's Wheels' Seeks Van For Bristol Girl, 14

Brianna Silveira is a 14-year-old Bristol girl with Cerebral Palsy who uses a power wheelchair to get around at school, but a manual wheelchair at home. She can use the power wheelchair only because a bus picks her up every day. 

As a high school freshman, she wants to do what all other kids her age are doing. Football games, movies, mall, dances and after-school activities, she is truly your typical teenage girl, according to GoFundMe.

When she is at home and on the weekends, however, she is forced to use her manual wheelchair, which leaves her completely dependent on her family. This makes it very difficult to do all of those things she wants to do as a high school freshman. A power wheelchair makes her almost independent, she can keep up with her friends and she can enjoy herself without having mom or another adult by her side.

A $10,000 campaign, titled “Brianna’s Wheels,” was started on Nov. 19 to help get Brianna a handicap-accessible van to help her do all activities without any limitations. This is a huge financial decision for her family. The cost is double what you would pay for a normal van. So far, the campaign has raised $3,626.

Getting an accessible vehicle will help Brianna’s accessibility, give her independence, and improve her quality of life, according to GoFundMe.

A little background on Brianna: She was born at 27 weeks gestation and was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at 6 months. But Brianna has made so many gains throughout the years. Once told she would never be able to write, she was writing cursive by 4th grade. She achieved High Honors for all 3 years of middle school.