Keiser University’s Jacksonville’s campus Society of Student Physical Therapist Assistants made a child’s dream come true. After two years of bake sales and fundraising efforts in collaboration with the Dreams Come True organization, the SSPTA students raised enough money to give a child her dream and then some! The child’s name is Bella and she is three years old suffering from epilepsy, cerebral palsy, cortical visual impairment, developmental delay (she is not able to speak, but is interactive with her surroundings). She began having seizures at 2 months of age and currently is not able to walk, talk , or even feed herself. She has a wheelchair and is on three different seizure medications per day. Her dream was to go to Disney World and Jacksonville’s SSPTA made that happen. They raised enough funds to send Bella, her mom, a friend, and the parents of her friend to Disney for one week! They are staying at a resort built specifically for children with special needs. The students also contributed their own money to buy her additional gifts from the Disney store.
After working for two years to make this dream a reality, they didn’t sit back and rest on their laurels. They are back at it again and eagerly raising funds for the next child at Dreams Come True.
My instructors believed in me. They were more than instructors, they tried to get to know you as a person and tried to understand your goals so they could push you towards them. Student services helped me find a job before I even graduated. Everyone was dedicated to my overall success.
