Palm Desert girl in need of wheelchair accessible van

Shelby Huerta is a smiling miracle. Born with a rare chromosome 6Q deletion, the 4-year-old has the mobility and mental development of a 6-month-old.

“She’s non-verbal, she doesn’t stand or crawl. She doesn’t walk. She has a very weak muscle tone,” said Shelby’s mother, Victoria Garcia.

Shelby’s wheelchair is what gives her body the support it needs, but her mother said Shelby can only use it at home because she doesn’t have a wheelchair accessible van to drive her in.

“It’s very hard for me to get it to the the car and try to undo everything and fold everything, and take everything apart,” said Garcia.

Whenever Shelby leaves the house, her wheelchair, which she needs, gets left behind and instead she’s rolled around in a stroller. Garcia said she struggles trying to fit three children and three strollers in her Ford Fusion.

“When we go out we have to carry her. She has this stroller and her feet drag on the floor because she’s getting older. She’s getting heavier and she’s getting longer. I think the hardest thing for me is people looking at me like ‘How come you just don’t let your daughter walk?'” said Garcia.

Shelby needs a wheelchair accessible van, one with enough room for her chair, her parents and two sisters, but her family can’t afford to purchase the vehicle alone.

“We even went to the Abilities Expo in Los Angeles recently. They were all about $50,000 to $60,000,” said Garcia.

The Garcia family started a YouCaring online fundraiser to help raise the money to purchase a van.

Shelby’s gone through a lot in her little life, now she needs a miracle. If you’d like to help, donate at youcaring.com.

Donations called also be mailed.
Shelby Huerta
P.O Box 2572
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270