Dad builds custom wheelchair for daughter paralyzed by cancer

A 13-month-old girl is shocking her doctors with how mobile she is, despite a devastating cancer diagnosis that left her paralyzed from the arms down.

Evelyn Moore of Alberta, Canada is exploring the world in a tiny wheelchair built by her dad.

The Canadian Press reported that she was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma at her 4-month check-up. A nurse noticed odd movement in the infant's hips, and a doctor later found a lump in her spine.

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She went into remission after eight rounds of chemotherapy, but then the family got more devastating news: Eva was paralyzed from the arms down.

The family said it was upsetting at first.

"But then you go home and you cry and you come back the next day and be the strongest mom and dad you can ever be," mom Kim Moore told The Canadian Press.

Doctors told the family Evelyn would probably Army crawl around until she was about 2-years-old, when she could be fitted with a wheelchair.

"I guess that wasn’t a good enough answer for me," said Moore.

She found a photo of an infant-sized wheelchair online and asked her husband to build it for Evelyn.

Using a child’s seat, a kitchen cutting board and some wheels, Brad Moore built his daughter a custom-made chair for about $100.

Doctors were amazed when they saw Evelyn in action.

"She looked like any adult or older child would in a wheelchair," Dr. Bev Wilson told The Canadian Press. "She was turning around in circles, backing up."

Evelyn has been through more in her 13 months of life than most experience in a full lifetime, but it’s clear she’s not letting anything stop her from doing anything she sets her mind to.

At 13 months old, Evelyn Moore is skillfully using a wheelchair made at home from a baby chair and a cutting board. The...

Posted by The Canadian Press on Thursday, August 11, 2016

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