satintouch Helps Make a Wish
Life is always busy for working couples. It gets even more hectic with children, let alone a child with a cognitive and physical disability.
Paul and Perla are working professionals with a child, Caleb,who has Patau Syndrome.
Patau Syndrome describes a person who has an extra chromosome in their genes. This effects physical and cognitive development, and is similar to both Downs Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy.
From birth, his parents knew that Caleb would have cognitive and physical delays, and didn’t know how long they would have their beloved son. Most children with his condition don’t make it past their first year.
However, Caleb, now 5-years-old, is still smiling and living with his parents.
Paul and Perla with the help of friends, family and a nanny take care of him on a day-to-day basis. This syndrome renders him unable to move much beyond rolling and lifting his head, and is unable to speak. He spends most of his time in a wheelchair.
“He is a happy boy throughout the day” Perla said. “But, we notice one activity when he’s more relaxed and smiling: bath time.”
Caleb loves water. And bath time is the time of day when his parents seem him visibly relax and a huge smile crosses his face.
But bath time for his parents was stressful.
“Our house was built in the 1940s and the bathroom was small with a bad DIY job.” Paul said. “It has such a narrow door that we had to walk in sideways, and we had a continual fear of dropping him.”
They approached Make a Wish, who granted Caleb a wish to make his
bath time safer.
Through this wish, satintouch was contacted to help create the foundation of the bathroom , which would feature a rolling shower and a standard sized door.
While drywall, mudding, and taping aren’t visible in the final product — they are vitally important to the foundation upon which the bathroom would be constructed.
“When the drywall came up, it was turning point for us in the construction. “Perla recalls. “Wow this going to be awesome!”
Their work helped widen the door and make the bathroom much bigger.
“It was very important to get it right,” Paul said. “And they did a wonderful job. Good skills and great attitude. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.”
Today, Caleb and family can enjoy a safe and stress free bath time whenever they like.
“I’m surprised how big the impact is. I’m grateful for it every single day.” Paul said. “ We’d like to thank satintouch and every single person who came and helped.”