Ling, the eldest daughter in her family, was born to doting parents, was still not able to stand up nor walk when she turned one year old. After seeking medical treatment, her parents realized she was born with muscular atrophy and had to rely on her parents for her everyday needs. Asking for a hug is supposed to be an infant’s basic need which will abate as one grows older. But for Ling, it was sadly an impossible task. Ling’s parents had no complaints and took very good care of her hoping she would grow up happy like all other kids of her age.

Ling underwent several spinal surgeries since a young age. Not wanting her parents to worry about her, she always had a smile on her face when going to the hospital for each treatment or even before the surgery. She recently completed a spine lengthening surgery and the surgent recommended a special electric wheelchair with the automatic reclining function which supports self-operated wheelchair mobility and posture adjustment for sitting or lying down to reduce the burden on the spine. So the assistive device center made a bespoke wheelchair for Ling but it was only for use on campus not to be taken home.

While Ling enjoyed the convenience of wheeling around on campus, she also became aware of her growing body. To ease the strain on Ling’s body, her mother had to change her position every three hours, day and night, which in the long run had caused her spinal injuries. Ling started to hope for her own electric wheelchair thinking it would reduce the load off her patents. But Ling’s dad working in warehouse management did not earn enough, and once all living expenses were deducted, there was not much left, let alone buying a bespoke electric wheelchair.

After the inspector paid the family a visit, he started to help with the support application and eventually covered the differences for the electric wheelchair fee that the family needed. Having her dream come true, Ling hand-painted a thank you card to express gratitude for the foundation. Seeing Ling zoom around the house in her wheelchair with her mum resting in the living room, the inspector was pleased and overawed that an electric wheelchair could make such a difference in the life quality of a family. He wished them all the best.