When Olivia was six years old she had three strokes. They came on the heels of intensive surgery, a procedure to repair a constriction of blood flow to her brain. The surgery was necessary: if left unaddressed the issue would worsen until cataclysm struck - which could be lethal.

But the strokes were nonetheless devastating and when she emerged from the medically-induced coma she had been placed in, a new reality awaited her and her family.

“I was suddenly the mom of a child with special needs,” siad Angelica, Olivia’s mother. “Olivia had to learn how to walk, talk, eat, use her hands, everything, all over again.”

Olivia is in therapy almost every day after school between, receiving  Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and more.

Olivia had to learn how to walk, talk, eat, use her hands, everything, all over again.

Thankfully, she was able to walk, but the stroke still played havoc with her mobility; she is currently in a wheelchair so she can have casting done on her legs to stabilize and repair her Achilles tendons, which had their connection to the brain disrupted during the stroke.

“Her tendons were tightening up to the point that she couldn't walk effectively,” Angelica says. “It was creating hip problems, so we are fixing that.”

That is far too much for a little girl to go through - and to continue to endure.

“It's a very, very, very long road,” Angelica says. “Stroke recovery is different for everybody. ”  

For now, the most important thing Angelica is hoping to return to her daughter is normalcy. The physical and language skills are painstakingly returning, but, in the meantime, mom wants her daughter to rediscover what it means to be a child again.

This is where a small taste of serendipity enters the story. Before Olivia had her surgery, Angelica was on a committee to improve the Whitefield Elementary School playground. Partnering with CMF Kids opened the door to a vastly improved, updated, and most importantly, accessible play area. Through a CMF Kids partnership project Whitefield Elementary was able to make that playground a reality: and the ribbon-cutting celebration happened on September 6, opening up a new world of accessible play to all children.

And few we are as happy as Olivia and Angelica. 

“It means a lot for her because she gets to play with her friends and it kind of gives her a sense of normalcy,” Angelica says. “We try to keep everything as normal as we can for her and give her the same opportunities that any other kid her age would have.Even though she can't get out of her chair, there's an adaptive swing on the swing set so she's able to use the swings like her friends do.”

The road to healing is a winding and strenuous one, but waypoints like the CMF Kids-powered accessible playground offer significant respites. 

“It’s just been really integral to her recovery,” Angelica says. “I feel like having the ability to access the things that everybody else can is really important for her. She didn’t feel like she was left behind.”