A Steinbach teen is going to be next year's recipient of a brand new, custom wheelchair through Tabs for Wheelchairs.
Shannon Broesky is 13-year-old Delainey's mom, and says she was given the news in a phone call less than a month ago.
"It seemed like a perfect fit. It was really cool, and I may have cried," she says.
Delainey has a genetic condition called Trisomy 13, also known as Patau syndrome, Broesky explains, noting that it's incredibly rare.
She says her daughter was born with multiple holes in her heart, one blind eye, a cleft lip and palate, scoliosis and chronic cystic kidney disease. Miraculously, several of these conditions have healed on their own.
"90 per cent of these children pass away before the age of one, and she just turned 13. So that's pretty incredible," she says.
Broesky describes her eldest as spunky, energetic and full of joy and life—making an impact on everyone she meets.
Her family faces a list of challenges though, as they try to make Delainey's world accessible.
One of those challenges is the cost of a suitable wheelchair while the teen outgrows her current one, which has been needing an increasing number of repairs.
"A basic model is between $5,000 to $7,000, and that's for something that doesn't even work for her. So then, you're looking upwards of a cost like $12,000 to $15,000 for chair," Broesky says.
"It's not something I can do on my own."
That's where the community comes into play—taking and saving tabs off cans to help get Delainey a new wheelchair.
"With the Tabs for Wheelchairs program, there hasn't been somebody from our region who's been a recipient. So they sent an email to schools to see if they have a student that would fit the criteria," says Lisa Desautels, a learning support teacher at Stonybrook Middle School, where Delainey attends.
She and the school's principal quickly thought of Delainey.
"We got the ball rolling on this program, and our school community has just been amazing. Teachers have told me that kids have come in with large jars full of tabs, and everyday we have students coming in with more and more bags," Desautels says.
Trailblazers Life Choices in Steinbach has also set themselves up as tab depot for Delainey, and also accept cans.
Those bringing tab and can donations there are asked to bring them to door number three, and to leave them tabs and cans at the door if no one is there.
"Everybody is just really on board with wanting to help Delainey. Like Shannon says, when you're near her, you can feel the joy and love from her. Anybody who knows Delaney knows that feeling," she says.
"I think that's just really sparked this initiative to help out, and to want to do something for her."
Desautels says the Tabs for Wheelchairs campaign will last a full year. She encourages businesses, community organizations, and members, to collect.
Meanwhile, Broesky says her family is taking life day by day, and enjoying every moment with Delainey.
"She's got a great personality and she makes life fun. She makes the best of her situations," she says.
"She really is that reminder that you make the most of your situation because I don't think she ever has a bad day....She's always happy, the best attitude, loves everything, loves everybody. She's so different. She's refreshing."