Reclaiming Freedom: Helping James Get an Action Trackchair

Life can change in an instant. Sometimes the path you imagined for yourself takes a turn you never saw coming, but even in those moments, hope, resilience, and the desire to live life fully can still shine through. My name is James, and I’m twenty-nine years old. When I was eleven years old, I was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called Von Hippel–Lindau disease (VHL for short). VHL causes tumors and cysts to develop throughout the body, often affecting vital organs like the brain, spinal cord, eyes, and kidneys. Since that diagnosis eighteen years ago, life has been a constant battle of monitoring, treatments, and incredibly difficult surgeries. Most of my tumors have developed in the central nervous system - my brain and spine. Over the years, I have undergone twelve brain surgeries and three spinal cord surgeries, with each one bringing uncertainty, risk, and recovery. In 2018, I underwent a third spinal cord surgery to remove a cervical tumor that was causing serious complications. Thanks to my incredible neurosurgeon, the tumor was successfully removed, but because of the damage from previous surgeries and the extremely delicate location of the tumor, the outcome changed my life forever. I woke up from that surgery paralyzed from the chest down. Despite everything, I refuse to let VHL define the limits of my life. I’ve faced countless obstacles, and each one has only made me more determined to embrace life in every way I possibly can. Being paralyzed changed my life in ways that I never could have imagined. There are days when the weight of it feels so overwhelming when I remember how things used to be. But over time, I’ve learned something very important: joy doesn’t disappear because life is different. Sometimes it’s simply a way of finding it in new places. Recently, I discovered something that gave me hope for experiencing life in a new way living with paralysis - an Action Trackchair. A Trackchair is a specialized power wheelchair built with rugged tracks instead of traditional wheels that allows people with mobility limitations to travel across terrain where normal wheelchairs cannot, such as sand, snow, grass, mud, and rough trails. For many people living with paralysis, the world can feel full of barriers. Beaches, forests, hiking trails, and parks often become inaccessible, but a Trackchair has the ability to change that. It opens the door to moments that once felt impossible, like rolling down a nature trail with family, feeling sand at the beach, exploring the outdoors, or just simply being able to go where others can go without the fear of accessibility restrictions. There have been countless moments where I’ve had to watch from the sidelines that I wanted to join but couldn’t because of accessibility factors. A Trackchair would change that, so I don’t have to watch life pass by in those situations anymore. In a world that can sometimes feel so limiting, this chair represents something incredibly powerful: freedom, independence, and the chance to fully experience life again with zero limitations. Unfortunately, these life-changing chairs are considered “recreational” by insurance companies rather than a medical necessity. Because of that, they are not covered by insurance and must be purchased entirely out of pocket, therefore, placing them far out of reach for many people who could benefit from them due to their high cost. That’s why I’m asking for help. This Trackchair wouldn’t just be a piece of equipment - it would be a way to reclaim experiences that once felt lost. It would allow me to spend more time outdoors with the people I love, explore places that are currently inaccessible, and continue living life as fully as possible despite the challenges VHL has placed in my path. If you feel moved to help, any donation would bring me one step closer to making this amazing wheelchair possible. Your gift isn’t just funding a wheelchair; it would help give me the chance to feel the world beneath me, and to reclaim pieces of my life that once felt lost. You would be helping to restore not just mobility, but hope itself, along with restoring a sense of freedom, independence, and the opportunity to create new memories. If donating isn’t possible, sharing this campaign with others would mean the world to me, and simply spreading the word can make an incredible difference. Every donation and every share help to break down a barrier and bring me closer to a future filled with more freedom, more adventure, and more moments that make life beautiful. Life may have transformed the way I move through the world, but it has also reformed the way I view it. When you realize tomorrow isn’t promised, every moment becomes precious. So, I choose to live each day fully, to love deeply, and to find joy wherever I can because life is meant to be lived, not postponed. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for taking the time to read my story, for your kindness, and for being part of this journey with me.