From mid July to early August, as thunderstorms pelted Cochrane at an almost daily occurrence and rain water rose to flood levels along neighbourhood streets, and then receded back into the gutters, Michelle Aguilar would look out the window and think, ‘maybe tomorrow.’
Then finally the day came. It was time to take the Trexo outside.
The machine, hot pink in colour and custom built for Brielle Thomson, Aguilar’s four-year-old daughter, was the end product of a months-long fundraising grind that began in March when Aguilar started going door-to-door collecting bottles to raise money to cover the machine’s $43,000 price tag.
On August 11, Aguilar loaded her daughter and the Trexo into the family’s car and drove to Cochrane Toyota, one of the many local businesses that had a hand in raising money for the Trexo, and had been just two months earlier the site of the finale for the Hearts in Motion fundraising campaign where Aguilar and her family gathered to receive the grand total of funds needed to purchase the walking machine.
In the cleared out Toyota showroom, as salespeople went about their work, Aguilar lifted Brielle out of her wheelchair and strapped her into the Trexo. “I can’t believe it’s here,” Aguilar said as she raised the frame so Brielle’s feet, which were fastened to metal stirrups, were just barely hanging above the ground. Then Aguilar took control of an ipad that allowed her to remotely move the Trexo. As the machine began to move forward, Brielle started to move her legs, simulating a walking stride.
“She’s happier now,” Aguilar said of her daughter, who has been using the Trexo daily on a treadmill in their home. For her entire life Brielle has been unable to walk. When the family took her into Calgary for the initial therapy session with the Trexo at the beginning of the year, it took close to seven weeks before Brielle started to initiate her own steps, which the machine detects and signals to the person controlling the device.
Now, after using the machine for almost a month, Brielle is initiating 40 per cent of her own steps. Aside from assisting Brielle in her physical movement, Aguilar has also noticed a positive change in her daughter’s mood and core strength. Recently Brielle sat up on her own, something she’s never been able to do before. “It’s definitely life changing,” Aguilar said. “I think just the fact she’s moving around has increased her core strength.”
Brielle’s sister is two and a half years old and is too young to understand Brielle’s physical affliction and asks her mother why her sister isn’t walking with her. But with the Trexo, as Brielle starts to move on her own and develop signs of physical improvement, her sister has taken to cheering her on.
“My dream is to be able to take a walk as a family, side by side, holding hands,” Aguilar said. “[This machine] it’s going to be life changing, for all of us.”
Trexo represents six weeks of fundraising effort
In early March, Michelle Aguilar was told by doctors Brielle’s hips were sliding apart and that she would need surgery. At the same time Brielle had participated in a study where she was outfitted with a Trexo walking device. The study showed such initial improvement to Brielle’s ability to move, the family decided that they would buy a machine for her.
But a Trexo costs $43,000, and the money wasn’t there for Aguilar. So, she decided to start fundraising by going door-to-door in Cochrane, collecting bottles.
In the early months of her fundraising effort, Aguilar said she was scared that it would take an enormous amount of time for her to raise the money she needed. “I guess when you get so motivated to do something, especially for your own daughter, it’s different,” she said, “Basically you’re not scared anymore because you’re doing it for her.”
Aguilar was prepared to spend years raising the money she needed. Then she met Dan Kroffat.
Aguilar is an immigrant from the Philippines and the Filipino Community Association in Cochrane connected her with Kroffat, a prolific community fundraiser who had a dearth of experience organizing community-wide fundraising efforts.
By April a six-week long community-wide fundraising effort called Hearts in Motion started with the goal of raising the $43,000 for Brielle. On June 14, Kroffat announced at a gathering at Cochrane Toyota that the community had pulled through. The $43,000 had been raised through bottle drives, barbecue fundraisers, pool and basketball tournaments, neighbourhood garage sales, silent auctions, and from a last minute anonymous donation.
“I feel like Michelle’s determination to be successful in this, to go out and raise the money on her own…I think the credit should be given to her,” Kroffat said. “The community came together to help an initiative that would improve people’s lives. This is a great example to look at for why Cochrane is the way that it is, and I’m very proud to have been a part of this initiative.”
Looking back on the saga that has unfolded since the beginning of March. Aguilar said she never expected for the money to be raised in just four months. She remembered thinking, as the money was trickling in on the final day of the fundraising campaign, she just had to stay positive. Even if the total wasn’t reached that day, she could continue to raise money later into June and July.
“At that moment I was trying to stay positive, but I was also a little scared,” Aguilar recalled thinking. “Even if we didn’t reach the goal I’d still be pushing towards it, but [getting the anonymous donation] was the best surprise of my life.” A few weeks after the Hearts in Motion campaign wrapped up, the Trexo was delivered to Aguilar's home.
Doctors told Aguilar there is no timeline for if or when Brielle will be able to fully walk on her own. Cases like hers vary from patient to patient, but the Trexo and her physical therapy sessions should help her progress.
Even though the fundraising campaign is officially over, and even though the Trexo has been delivered, Aguilar said the support from the community hasn’t stopped. Indeed, Original Joe’s continues to donate bottles to Aguilar to help her pay for Brielle’s therapy sessions.
