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Lia Bell has been fundraising for two years, including selling handmade cards, but her dream of owning an all-terrain wheelchair still looks a long way off.
The 47-year-old has a form of cerebral palsy which is increasingly debilitating, and causes chronic pain, despite numerous surgeries on her legs.
Standing and walking is extremely difficult and so she says she is grateful for the basic wheelchair that enables her to get out of the house.
However, any journeys from Lia’s Arkles Bay home are limited to flat areas.
Her husband and teenage son provide a lot of support, but being more independent is a key goal for Lia. She dreams of being able to afford an Omeo all terrain wheelchair, based on Segway technology, which she says cost around $23,000.
Such a chair could take her up hills and even onto the beach.
“Why not dream big?” she says. “The beach is right there, but frustratingly out of reach. I know this is a ‘want’, not a need – there are a lot of people with more serious needs – so I am striving myself to earn it.”
Lia says she didn’t think she had an artistic bone in her body, but when a friend taught her to make intricate paper cards, she discovered she had a knack, and became hooked.
“It’s also time consuming, which is good because I spend a lot of time sitting at home and now there’s something to do,” she says.
Each card takes an hour or more to make and she has 70 different designs. Next month, on July 7, she will have a stall at the mid-winter Christmas market in Ōrewa.
So far, she has raised just under $6000.
Lia sells her cards on her Facebook page bellcraftcards, and at local fashion store Mainstreet in Ōrewa.
