Ayden Wall’s family asking for help towards getting a wheelchair accessible car

A North Queensland mum was told her son was unlikely to survive in the womb alongside his twin sister. Now five years on, the little battler is a testament of strength. How you can help >>

Tia Wall with Ayden, 5, at Townsville University Hospital. Picture: Evan Morgan

Five-year-old Ayden Wall from Ayr is a testament of strength as he continues to defy the odds, following a diagnosis from doctors saying he was unlikely to survive in the womb while his mum was pregnant with him and his twin sister.

“I was coming up (to Townsville) every week because I was high-risk. ”she said.

“At 31 weeks, everything was fine. At 32 weeks they took me in for a scan and they told me something was wrong with one of my babies and that I needed to go for an MRI right away.”

Suffering a cranial bleed in utero, Ayden only had a small chance of survival.

Being a set of twins, with his sister Azaria healthy, surgery was a risky option.

“I was told he wasn’t going to make it to birth. They wanted to put him to sleep in my stomach and I said you’re not doing that. I didn’t want to put my babies at risk. To have something happen to my other baby too, no way,” Ms Wall said.

Tia Wall with Ayden, 5, at Townsville University Hospital. Picture: Evan Morgan

Arriving three weeks later at 35 weeks, Ayden was put into the neonatal intensive care unit, with not much hope he would make it.

After a few weeks he was able to go home to spend his final days with his family in palliative care.

A true fighter, Ayden defied the odds and in March will celebrate his sixth birthday with this twin sister.

Living with quadriplegic cerebral palsy along with numerous other conditions including seizures and chronic ear infections, Ayden requires full time care and lots of doctors and hospital appointments.

Tia Wall with her five children. Picture: supplied

Ms Wall is a single-mother and lives with her five kids Ainsley 18, Anastasia 14, Andrew 12 and the twins, in an Ayr housing commission

She has very limited family support and relies on the help of carers to assist.

“It’s really, really hard. The other kids miss out a lot too because I spent a lot of time looking after Ayden,” she said.

Ayden loves animals, including birds and guinea pigs, enjoys swimming and has just begun prep at his local special school.

Due to his needs he has to travel to Townsville and Brisbane constantly for doctors and specialist appointments.

The family are calling for community support to assist in Ayden’s transportation to appointments and outings with his family.

His mother had been saving for several years to purchase a vehicle that is wheelchair accessible due to the fact as Ayden gets older, he is also becoming too heavy to lift.

Finally saving enough money she purchased a vehicle which turned out to be mechanically faulty and cannot afford to spend more money trying to fix it.

Tia Wall with Ayden, 5, at Townsville University Hospital. Picture: Evan Morgan

“I took the car to two mechanics who told me it should never have been given a roadworthy certificate. There’s nothing that can be done to it now, it will be taken to the wreckers. I have five kids, I need a car,” Ms Wall said.

“We need a car that is wheelchair accessible, with a ramp so he can sit in his wheelchair instead of having to transfer him to a car seat.”

Ms Wall said the NDIS have approved funding to pay for modifications on a car, but guidelines require the vehicle to be under five years old and having done less than 80,000kms.

They say they are unable to afford a car that new.

The family have been doing small fundraisers to assist with the costs, including a donation tin at Home Hill newsagency, her daughter Anastasia is doing a fundraising walk at Ayr High and the Cowboys NRL Club supplying a signed jersey for the family to auction off.

A Go Fund Me has being set up for financial donations.

The family also share updates on the Hope for Ayden Facebook page.

Originally published as Ayden Wall’s family asking for help towards getting a wheelchair accessible car