18-05-2025
GoBabyGo gifts custom motorized cars to children with mobility issues
WHEATON, Ill. — Six-year-old Glenn Simmons usually rides shotgun in his sister's motorized Jeep but now he's got his own ride equipped just for him.
'For him to get here and get his own Jeep and see the expression on his face, it just really brought us to tears,' Ebonie Simmons, Glenn's mom, said.
Glenn was diagnosed with cerebral palsy preventing him from moving without support. He is also non-verbal, but these obstacles don't stop him from wanting to keep up with other kids.
'He is such a hardworking kid. He loves to try, he loves other children and he loves to play,' Ebonie Simmons said.
On Saturday morning, Glenn was one of eighteen children with mobility challenges gifted a motorized child-sized car.
'We are absolutely overjoyed and grateful that we're receiving this type of support for him,' Ebonie Simmons said. 'We thought he'd never be able to drive his own Jeep because he doesn't have the head support.'
The cars were customized by volunteers to help the children have fun and live more independently.
'We decide what is going to work for the child, and the therapists and volunteers come in and adapt it… move lights around, make the seating right and give them additional kinds of support,' Dr. Anton Dietzen said.
The program, GoBabyGo, donated the vehicles to children who receive care at the Northwestern Medicine Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton.
'Teaching a child that they can get around on their own, that they can explore their environment, is just huge,' Dr. Dietzen said.
The hospital hosts the event once a year. There's also talk about having the children return with their cars just to hang out and socialize.
'This is going to open up a lot,' Ebonie Simmons said. 'This is going to open up his childhood. This is going to make him be able to be a kid.'
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