An Oshawa family is hoping this Christmas she can give six-year-old boy Connor what he needs.
He’s just like every other little boy. He likes superheroes and living life as a kid. But there’s one difference: he has cerebral palsy, meaning how he can play is limited.
“How do you turn around and tell your child their chance to ride a bike or do the things that all the kids do is not within our grasp?” says his mother Kirstin Ciampaglia.
It’s what every parent wants — to give their child everything and tell them the world is theirs to have. At this time, though, it’s not possible for the family to help him without expensive surgery.
It’s an upsetting situation for the Ciampaglia family.
“It’s a very hard pill to swallow,” says Connor’s mother. “Knowing that it can give him a much better quality of life and it’s something that isn’t within our grasp, it’s heartbreaking.”
The family now has hope after being approved to get that work done in a procedure called selective dorsal rhizotomy — an operation on his lower spinal cord that will reduce spasticity in his legs. But it comes at a hefty price tag of more than $130,000.
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It will be carried out at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the United States — after Connor was denied surgery in Canada. His mother says her son’s condition didn’t meet the threshold for getting the treatment here.
“It’s disappointing, of course,” says Ciampaglia. “It’s disappointing because you would much rather stay in your own country than have to go to another country and raise the funds to do it.”
Connor was born 13 weeks early and diagnosed with right-sided hemiplegia cerebral palsy when he was just nine months old. The disease causes muscle contraction on his right side, impacting how he walks. However, if he gets the surgery — it will be a game-changer.
“It will be life-changing. He will be able to do a lot of things other kids can do without even thinking about. Jumping, climbing hills and just being a kid,” says his mother.
That’s something Connor’s been looking forward to all his life.
“I can run, play soccer, kick harder with the ball and get to take a walk.”
What’s most worrisome for Ciampaglia is if this surgery isn’t carried out, it could affect how he lives.
“My huge concern is, how will he be at my age?” she says. “What about when my husband and I aren’t around? I don’t want him to struggle.”
A GoFundMe page has been started with $20,000 raised so far, with the surgery booked for July in the U.S.
It’s their hope they can make it — to give Connor a chance to be a kid.
“You’d do anything in your power to help your kids live the best life they can live. And at the moment this is the best future for him.”
A future where he can run and play to his heart’s content.
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