Valley parents seek community help to fund treatment to help daughter walk<\/a><\/p>\nTheir daughter was born with Costello syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects growth, development, and multiple body systems.<\/p>\n
The disorder can also put children at higher risk for cancer and other serious illnesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery three months she’s getting checked for cancer because she can be high risk for it,\u201d said her mother, Shirley Mondragon-Lyday. \u201cShe does have kidney problems, she has GI problems, heart problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahzunea spent the first seven months of her life in the NICU. <\/p>\n
Her parents say even minor illnesses can quickly become dangerous.<\/p>\n
Now, her family is working to raise $7,000 for a custom stander, a specialized mobility walker designed specifically for her petite size, which could help her build strength and eventually learn to walk.<\/p>\n
The family says their insurance has denied coverage three times.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve been denied through insurance,” Mondragon-Lyday said. “Unfortunately with the budget cuts going on, we’ve struggled to get other agencies to help us,.”<\/p>\n
They say they have reached out to regional centers and disability programs but have been waitlisted or told there are no loaner devices available in Ahzunea\u2019s size.<\/p>\n
Because of that, the family has turned to community fundraisers, raffles and vendor events to help cover the cost.<\/p>\n
Now Fresno City Councilwoman Annalisa Perea is stepping in. <\/p>\n
After learning about Ahzunea\u2019s story, she announced she would match community donations up to $1,000 to help the family reach their goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often talk about the strength of our community, and moments like this are when that strength truly shines,\u201d Perea said in a statement. \u201cAhzunea has already overcome more challenges than most children her age, and now our community has the opportunity to help change her future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perea also thanked American Ambulance and Vista Consulting for making early contributions toward the $7,000 goal.<\/p>\n
Every dollar brings Ahzunea one step closer to the mobility and independence she deserves.<\/p>\n
Community members who would like to donate or learn more can visit the family\u2019s GoFundMe page<\/a>. <\/p>\nSo far they’ve raised $2,534. <\/p>\n
Her parents say every donation, share and word of encouragement helps bring Ahzunea one step closer to standing on her own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 A Fresno family fighting to help their young daughter walk is now receiving support…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-204825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}