COPPERAS COVE, Texas — A mother in Copperas Cove is sharing her daughter’s story.
Stacie Barber is looking to raise money to get her 9-year-old daughter, Ainsley, the proper medical help she needs after being born with brain damage.
“Those are her legs. This is her freedom," Stacie Barber said.
"She should not have to wait so long for things like that."
Ainsley was born with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, which means three parts of her brain died in utero from a lack of oxygen and blood flow.
It has affected her ability to walk and talk.
“We rely on the iPad, and she’s really good at spelling," Stacie Barber said.
"She’s really smart."
Ainsely’s current wheelchair has been with her since she was three, and after years of holding it together with duck tape, it’s on it’s last leg.
“Her chair started turning on by itself — which is a hazard," Stacie Barber said.
"They’re not going to be able to transport her to school on the bus because her chair keeps turning on."
Stacie Barber has reached out to Medicaid and has been denied five times, her insurance won’t cover Ainsley’s needs, and now she’s reached out to the governor for help, but she’s faced with dead end after dead end.
"I’m her voice, and if I don’t advocate for her, then nobody else is going too,” Stacie Barber said.
The base price of the chair is around $7,000, but with Ainsley’s needs, like a headrest, and trunk control, it comes out to just over $12,000.
“My daughter is absolutely amazing and she deserves everything," Stacie Barber said.
"It's just not financially feasible for one family to pay for everything."
Anyone interested in donating to the family can do so here.
