Mother seeks van to accommodate special needs son

The excitement R.J. Kendall displays while playing a patty-cake-like hand game with his “nana” is heartwarming. Grinning ear-to-ear, his entire body remains in his wheelchair. But his hands are free.

Abruptly, the excitement is interrupted. R.J.’s smile is erased, and his body immediately slumps over, his head in his lap, as he enters into a drop spell.

His mother, Theresa Kendall, and his grandmother, are a bit frightened but remain composed as they promptly position him upright in the wheelchair.

“It’s scary,” R.J.’s grandmother Maria Camp said. “It’s no warning that it’s going to occur.”

The duration of the spell varies. This time it doesn’t last more than a minute. R.J. soon awakens and slowly starts to smile again.

These unanticipated spells happen quite often, though, for 10-year-old R.J. He has Early Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy type 12 and autism. The former is an extremely rare nervous system disease. It hinders R.J.’s ability to walk, move his limbs, and perform other daily talks.

He suffers from seizures and sudden drop spells that can occur at any time – while eating, or running errands.

In one instance, Theresa Kendall was preparing him for a bath when he dropped suddenly.

“There was no one here but me,” Kendall said. “Luckily I had pads that I could lay him down on the bathroom floor and just kind of let it go away for a minute. Then I was able to put him back in the wheelchair.”

Kendall is afraid that R.J. may suffer from a spell as she attempts to lift her 60-pound son out of his wheelchair into their 7-8 passenger van. He’s a growing boy.

“If we’re already halfway standing there…trying to get him in the van and he has a drop spell. That’s why it’s to the point where I can’t go without of a lift,” Kendall said.

She said a new van with an automatic lift would allow her to safely transport R.J. in and out of the vehicle. She said she considered having a lift installed on her current van, but a local van company refused because her van has too many miles.

Now, Kendall is seeking aid in purchasing a new van with a barbecue fundraiser slated for 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2 at the American Legion Post 166 (116 Howe Hall Road).

Donations towards R.J.’s cause can be made online at gofundme.com/rjs-van-fund., as well as at South Carolina Federal Credit Union via R.J.’s Van Fund.

Kendall is no stranger in advocating on behalf of her son and others with special needs. Three years ago, she led a campaign convincing Goose Creek’s Publix supermarket to obtain a special-needs grocery cart. Caroline’s Carts, designed by another special-needs mother, allows caregivers to secure children or adults as they shop.

Kendall also takes part in other advocacy groups with mothers of special-needs children. She said they have spoken out against budget cuts that could affect funding for special needs children.

She vows to continue the fight as her son continues to grow.

“[R.J.’s] inspired me to never give up,” she said. “And be that voice.”