Caylem gets a new ride

Seven-year-old Caylem Dockery, of Echols, will be riding to school and his appointments in comfort and style.

Last week he became one of the many Kosair Kids to benefit from the Kosair Kids Financial Assistance Program that helps fund equipment, medical bills and therapies when his family received a wheelchair-accessible van.

Caylem, the son of Dakota and Destiny Dockery, has hypotonic cerebral palsy, which means he has low muscle tone and is cognitively at six months old. This leaves him unable to walk, talk or feed himself unassisted.

“But don’t let his diagnosis throw you off balance too much,” said his mom. “It was a hard blow for us when we found out, but he is the most resilient and happy little boy you will ever meet and will brighten anyone’s day with his presence.”

Destiny said that carrying and lifting Caylem has already begun to take a toll on her body and that he is only going to continue to grow. The van was a needed asset for their family. Realizing the need, she filled out an application for a grant to receive financial help getting a van already wheelchair-accessible from a dealer.

“The Kosair Kids Financial Assistance Program is need-based. Families apply at www.kosair.org,” said Chris Williams, Kosair for Kids senior vice president of communications. “In Caylem’s case, they applied for a van, which while a common request, is a much more difficult need to provide for some very obvious reasons.”

Caylem was on the wait list along with other families. Fortunately for Caylem and his family, two weeks after they applied, Dr. Gay Fulkerson, of Leitchfield, had a van she wanted to donate to a deserving family. Her friend, Shriner Mike Rektenwald, was familiar with the work of Kosair for Kids and what they do. He suggested she donate the van to them because they would know how to get it to a deserving family.

“Without these two amazing and generous people, it would have been very difficult to provide a van so Kosair Kid Caylem can be on the road to living life to the fullest,” Williams said.

“By the grace of God we were chosen,” Destiny said. “This van has been a big blessing to us. It means the absolute world to me that receiving this van has become reality. I’m so happy about what Kosair for Kids has done for me and numerous other participants. These vans are not cheap and are hard to get for those who need it. Dr. Fulkerson did a very selfless thing by donating the van to us. I know the van held sentimental value to her as it was used for her late father, and I know it could not have been easy letting it go.”

Providing assistance to Kosair Kids like Caylem is why the organization exists,Williams said.

“Kosair Shriners made a vow 102 years ago that regardless of race, religion, creed or ability to pay that we would care for children at the Kosair Crippled Children Hospital on Easter Parkway in Louisville. Through time, delivering on that promise has evolved into the most comprehensive children’s charity in Kentucky that serves children in all 120 Kentucky counties and across southern Indiana. Helping Kosair Kids like Caylem has created generational change in families since the start, and with help from those who give of their time, talent and treasure, we will continue for another century and beyond,” Williams said.

Destiny hopes everyone is able to see what her family and Kosair for Kids see in Caylem and other kids like him.

“Everyone is different and everyone belongs, and these special needs and differently abled children are no different. They deserve just as much as anyone else, and quite honestly they deserve more. They deserve the world.”