Wish List: Boy needs a bath lift

EDGEWOOD — William is an impish little boy, the kind that can pull off a prank and then melt you with his laughter.

He is "the class clown" in his kindergarten class, says his mom, Michelle Bray. At home his brothers have to keep an eye on him because he might get into their XBox video games. Little brothers, right?

If you met William, you'd notice he's tiny, wears glasses and has limited use of his legs and arms. He scoots around on his bottom to get to wherever he wants to go. And he can't speak, but he'll let his mom know exactly what he wants.

In short, William is a little boy. He's also one who has endured developmental struggles and countless surgeries and, most recently, doctors told his mother, is experiencing a shrinking cerebellum.

No task is easy for William, who suffers from cerebral palsy and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a disorder that affects connective tissues, making it easy for him to get hurt. He had 100 surgeries before he turned 1. He was born prematurely, with some organs not fully developed, which, for example, made him unable to eat properly. Food got into his airway. And even now, William endures surgeries from time to time, most recently on his eyes.

His mother suffers from the same connective tissue disorder, and that makes it tough for her to care for him without injuring herself now that he's 6.

If you hang around William for even a little while, though, you'll meet a fun 6-year-old who loves a good joke. He's tiny, but he's definitely growing up, his mother said. Lately he has been insisting that he, not his mother or anyone else, open the cap to the feeding tube in his stomach. If anyone else tries it, William yells.

"He's independent," his mother says, as William fiddles with the cap one day recently. He's also learning to eat food by mouth. His preference? "Bold flavors." Lemon-pepper chicken wings and pizza, to name a couple of his favorites.

Two Christmases ago, William, who communicates mostly through pointing and making sounds, figured out how to get off the couch by himself. Even more impressive, he climbed back on.

To his mother, who cares for him and three other children of her own and, in part, a friend's older teen, it was the best Christmas present ever. "I don't need anything else," she recalls thinking.

Now though, while her youngest child grows before her, Michelle Bray admits she needs a little more. She can no longer get William into or out of a bathtub. He has helpful siblings, but even the oldest, Chris, at 15, suffers from the same connective tissue syndrome.

So their mother, whose eyes cast down and voice lowers when she is asked about her wish for William, is hoping for a different kind of Christmas gift this year: a bath lift for William. It's a device that can assure William's safety getting in, and getting out, of the bathtub. And it would prevent his mother from getting injured.

It's a lift that, according to his medical caregivers, William needs, but the insurance company doesn't deem necessary.

Bray and her husband are divorced and while he provides what financial help he can, he doesn't earn much. The bath lift would cost $3,063, a sum that William's parents cannot afford. Michelle cannot work because she takes care of William and her other children full time, and she has just started school, attending Gateway Community and Technical College with the goal of earning a medical assistant certification.

So for now, she sponge-bathes her son and worries about hygiene and injuries. Meanwhile, William rolls and laughs and decides whether – or not – to follow her instructions.

As for following others' instructions, William is pretty good at that. He is enrolled in kindergarten where, at first, he had a few time-outs for his mischief, but doesn't anymore. He's in an integrated class as well as with a special needs teacher for part of each day. He also gets a bunch of therapy, from Cincinnati Children's Medical Center's Perlman Center. His favorite is pool time. Say the words and he lights up.

Among his newest classes is a tech class, which is teaching William, bit by bit, how to use a specialized tablet that will help him communicate.

One day, as adults were chatting during this tech time, William got thirsty. He pecked around at the device. He figured out how to ask for a drink. And he stunned his mother and teacher.

William is a "very happy" little boy, his mom said. Upon hearing, though it looked like he was watching a TV cartoon, William turns his head and smiles, big.

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.