In six days, Zjos Dekker collected ten thousand euros to buy a special wheelchair for her mother. He suffered a brain haemorrhage in May and can no longer walk independently. Zjos started a crowdfunding campaign and with success. “Next week we’re going to pick one,” beams the proud daughter who became known as “the nicest autist on Twitter”.
The whole family from Heesch is over the moon. “We didn’t expect to reach the final goal at all,” says Zjos. “My mother cries with joy every day. She has the perspective to start doing things herself. That also helps my sisters who have taken on part of the informal care. We see that our mother is happy again. She’s blooming again.”
After her brain haemorrhage, Zjos’ mother was recommended a scooter by the Social Support Act (WMO). But she prefers to opt for a ‘balance wheel chair’. It is much smaller and you can get to many more places. But also a lot more expensive: ten thousand euros.
That money is now in. The six hundred donations that ensured this came from all corners. “People from our own circle, old acquaintances we haven’t spoken to for fifteen years and complete strangers. It warms your heart. We have already made an agreement with the company that sells the wheelchairs.”
Zjos’ mother has always been an outdoorsman. Before her brain haemorrhage, she worked as a postman and enjoyed walking her dogs. “Hopefully she can do a small errand again with this wheelchair. That is super important to her.”
It also makes the weekly outing to the woods with her dogs easier. “Of the eighty hiking trails in our area, only three that you can go all the way with a scooter, that’s what my father picked out. With this wheelchair she can just go everywhere and keep walking the dogs.”