Every Child Deserves a bike: On Oct, 7, 2021, Brad Marsh and Bob Kelly presented an adaptive bike to Laurel Jastrzembski of Swedesboro, NJ. She is quite an amazing young lady! Laurel makes jewelry, plays sled hockey and is the official Girl Scout Cookie connection for Nasty Knuckles. She is joyous and certainly has quite the smile.
It was wonderful to meet Laurel and her family today. As always, thank you to Flyers for making it possible with your generous support and thank you, Help Hope Live, for connecting us with Laurel and her family.
Laurel was diagnosed with Spastic diplegia cerebral Palsy at the age of 8 months. She is also diagnosed with hydrocephalus, which is an abnormal buildup of fluid in the ventricles (cavities) deep within the brain. This excess fluid causes the ventricles to widen, putting pressure on the brain’s tissues. Laurel had to have brain surgery at 4 weeks old where they had to placed a shunt to alleviate that pressure. Laurel also has strabismus and has had 4 surgeries to help correct but still suffers from central vision impairment, and optic nerve atrophy. Laurel has received many Botox injections on her legs and hips, along with serial casting on her ankles (she gets a new set of casts every week for 6 to 8 weeks to help her gain more range of motion in her ankles/feet).
She doesn’t let any of these challenges slow her down! She is involved in many physical activities and is also an integral part of her family’s farming business! During the course of farming Season and you will see Laurel all over South Jersey working with her family at their farm stand.