Wish List: Family wants bed, iPad for disabled son

One need only look at the walls of the Waggoners' Newport apartment to understand how the family deals with hardship.

Two small family portraits and a copy of Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" are all that adorn the walls of the spartan living quarters.

God and family have sustained Tomika and Brian Waggoner as they struggle to take care of their two children and pay the bills. But they need help.

Their youngest, Brian, 14, suffers from a laundry list of disabilities – among them, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.

The Waggoners' would like to give their son a proper bed and an iPad to help him communicate and catch up on school work.

Brian "B.J." Waggoner, Jr., is trapped inside his body. He can't speak save for a few words. Palsy has twisted his body to make it hard to move. Too hot or too cold, his muscles contract, making a lot of purposeful movement impossible. Once this year, his sister, Brinae, found him slumped on the floor of Newport High School.

Doctors didn't expect B.J. to live past his first birthday.

"This guy here, it's God in him," his father said. "He's just a fighter."

Brian Waggoner, Sr. breathed heavy as he strained to cradle the 100-pound frame of his son as they made their way to their second floor apartment on Newport's west end.

"The winter is pretty rough on him," he said.

Tomika and Brian Waggoner and their eldest child, Brinae, 16, juggle work and school to care for B.J.

Tomika works 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. as a certified nurses' assistant at Baptist Convalescent Center and is studying to be a medical assistant. Brian works a split shift as a cook for Penn Station in Newport. Brinae Waggoner works at Chick-fil-A and attends Newport High.

Rent, utilities and medical expenses make life difficult on their meager salaries.

"I have no savings whatsoever," Tomika said. "As soon as I make it, it's already spent."

They can only afford an air mattress for B.J. in a bedroom denuded of luxury save a small portable television and a coloring book.

A Flex-A adjustable hospital bed would greatly improve B.J.'s life. It would allow him to raise and lower the head and foot of the bed and make moving to and from his wheelchair much easier. Tomika Waggoner would be happy with just a regular bed.

"Anything to where it's not on the ground," she said.

The Waggoners' day is taken up by work and caring for B.J. They get up well before 6 a.m. to clean and prepare B.J. for school. He's a freshman at Newport High School.

A 32-gigabyte iPad Mini2 would help him catch up on school work, specifically one with Wi-Fi and that includes text-to-voice application that would help him communicate with teachers.

B.J. has had to adapt in recent years after the family has uprooted twice in the last year to find work.

Two years ago they moved to Covington from Dayton, where B.J. grew up. They moved from Covington to Newport this year. The transition hasn't been easy for B.J. He received the first F ever in a life skills class, his mother said. An ability to better communicate would help. The iPad would also allow his parents to tutor him at home, Tomika said.

"He gets really, really frustrated when he's trying to express something to you or try to tell you something and you don't understand," Tomika said.

B.J. can't talk but he does hum along with his favorite cartoons, Spongebob Squarepants and Daniel Tiger.

The iPad and bed won't change B.J.'s medical condition. But it will make life a little easier. Anything that makes B.J.'s life better will make the family's life better, she said.

"I'm trying to work as much as I can, but I'm human too," Tomika said. "I'm working at work then coming home and working at home all day long. There's not enough hours in the day. It just don't stop for me."

She hopes eventually B.J. can reach a level of self-sufficiency to do small daily tasks when she is no longer able to care for him. Until then, the Waggoners will find strength in each other and God.

"When you have a child, you'll understand nothing else in life matters," Tomika said. "You no longer have a life. Your life is your child's life."

How to give

The Enquirer proudly promotes the annual Wish List fundraising effort in conjunction with the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. We know how caring and giving our readers are, and the Wish List presents each of you with the opportunity to dig down and find it in your hearts to lend a helping hand.

*To provide support for the family you read about today and for the nonprofit agency that works with that family, just visit this website: www.uwgc.org/wishlist.

* Can’t find the dollars to give this time around? No problem, you can give in other ways. For instance, find a nonprofit organization you can assist through volunteering. One place to look is the United Way’s Volunteer Connection at this link: http://www.uwgc.org/volunteer/ways-to-volunteer

* Or, simply share this Wish List story on your Facebook or Twitter page to bring it to the attention of more potential helping hands. Doing this will help your own network of family and friends recognize the very real needs in our community -- needs each of us can help address.