Under the current circumstances, Melissa or Michael Coe must lift and then boost their 9-year-old daughter, Lila, over their shoulders like a large bag of flour.
Once steadied and balanced, they must carry Lila, who has cerebral palsy and weighs 70 pounds, down steps to the driveway and place her in the car seat, an awkward transport conducted with as much care and gentle touch as possible.
“We kind of divvy up doing it,” Melissa said, “so we don’t get injured.”
The Coes say they’re in this predicament – in need of a wheelchair-accessible van – because they weren’t given all the information that was necessary to follow the process properly.
In a nutshell, Melissa and Mike bought a van last year that did not have the specifications needed to transform it into a van with a lift to alter their lives for the better.
They need a van with a flat platform that goes up and down like an elevator. With it, Lila could be rolled outside, park her wheelchair on the platform, and then rise and actually remain in the wheelchair once the destination has been reached.
The Coes bought a 2018 Kia last year. It didn’t support the lift.
“Had they given us that information, a proper name, we would not have bought it,” Melissa said.
The right van is sorely needed. Lila had a stroke before birth, causing brain damage and leading to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy after nine days at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon.
She’s 9 and undergoes physical therapy to strengthen her weakened body. She can’t walk or talk, but she can smile and laugh and relate with her parents. She sat in the TV room this week, a Mario game on the screen.
While she doesn’t speak, she knows how to communicate.
Softer sounds and moaning equal happiness. Louder usually means she’s grumpy. “You’ll know when she’s not happy,” Melissa said.
The thud of a heavy toy crashing onto the floor mixed in, creating chaotic sounds to an outsider but barely a blip on Lila’s parents’ radar. They’ve had to make a lot of adjustments.
“It’s been challenging to navigate the resources in the state, like there’s no booklet you can just get,” Melissa said. “You’re just thrown into the mix where you are trying to find specialists and the proper medication, the rules at the pharmacies.”
And the right van. Melissa said she had help from a professional advocate. But the van requirements were foreign to her.
“I told her I bought the wrong van and she said, ‘THE WRONG VAN? I had no idea that was a thing,’ ” Melissa said. “I asked who should have told me this? Why isn’t there a handout or something to figure out what is a very confusing process? I just don’t think they are totally educated on this.”
She and Mike are. First, they called the company in Londonderry that does van conversion and learned what they needed to buy. Then they priced the vans that will serve their purpose.
A new van with an elevator costs about $77,000, Melissa said. The state would pay half, leaving her with a $38,000 price tag.
She needs help. She hopes community fundraising will solve her problem. Or at least some of it. Donations made to the family at www.helphopelive.org are tax deductible.
“Most of what we had to do has been hard,” Melissa said. “But with the right van, hook her up, roll her out, then roll her in.”