Teen battling muscular dystrophy needs handicap accessible van

OAK PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - On most winter days, Terrence Goodwyn gets ready and dressed for school with the help of his dad. Then, he unfolds a portable ramp to help Terrance, who battles muscular dystrophy, roll down to the ground, so he can leave the house.

"Right now, I see him limited to his house, and a half-mile radius around his house," said Kinneri Patel, his therapist. "Wherever his wheelchair can take him on a good day."

Terrence lives across the street from his high school, Oak Park. But on snowy days it is difficult for him to get to school. His dad uses a snowblower to clear a pathway from his driveway to the sidewalk, for Terrance to get there.

"Yes, he has muscular dystrophy, and he can’t do things that other teenagers can do," Patel said. "But he himself has said, 'I have a purpose in life. I want to go to college.'"

The Goodwyn family needs a van with an automatic lift to give Terrence more independence.

"To get to school, get to college, doctor’s appointments, therapy — even just like regular activities," said Terrance, a senior.

All of which also includes hanging with friends too.

Terrence doesn’t let his limitations hold him back. He’s an honor roll student with a 4.1 grade-point average. He has already been accepted into Oakland University.

FOX 2: "When you got accepted into Oakland University, how did you feel?"

"Excited to start a new chapter in my life," Terrance said.

"I saw him, I think, last week, I said, ‘Hey are you excited you’re a senior? Are you excited to go to college?’" Patel said. "He said, ‘I’m really excited,' But then I felt a sadness. And I said, ‘But what?’ He goes, 'It’s going to be hard because I don’t have a way to get to college.'"

Usually, Terrence’s dad would lift him into the family SUV, but dad hurt his back. His mother is out of work on medical leave, so money is tight.

Terrence and his family need a specialty van, because he's been left relatively homebound, his mom said.

Terrence Goodwyn

"(We) could never go out together because I can’t lift him into a car at all," said Donya Goodwyn, his mother.

FOX 2: "What is the one thing you want to do with your son that you can’t do now?"

"Go (with him) to places, take him around." she said.

Terrence Goodwyn made a gofundme to raise money for a van. To donate go the link HERE.