By Sarah Nagem
Salisbury Post
Savanah Hinson has to retrain her legs to walk.
And it’s not a cheap thing to do.
Hinson is a 14-year-old high school freshman who remains in a wheelchair after a series of health problems and a surgery that left her paralyzed.
On Saturday, her family is hosting another fundraiser to help buy exercise equipment that might get Savanah back on her feet.
The walk-n-rollathon will be from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m. at Jesse Carson High School, where Savanah attends.
When she was younger, Savanah had five rounds of chemotherapy after doctors found three tumors. She’s cancer-free now.
But she developed problems walking, so she underwent surgery to correct curvature of the spine last fall. Complications arose, and Savanah has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.
The family has insurance, said Greg Hinson, Savanah’s father. It paid the bills for rehab to help Savanah learn how to maneuver in the chair.
“It won’t pay for any rehab to get her to walk,” Greg said.
The money raised from the walk-n-rollathon will hopefully help with that, he said. Savanah needs some expensive equipment, like stationery bicycles and a Total Gym to get her legs moving.
The Hinsons’ home isn’t large enough for bulky equipment, so Greg plans to construct a separate building. Some people have already donated lumber for it, he said.
But the Hinsons still need to raise about $20,000 for the gym equipment and the building, he said.
The family has already spent a lot of money. A couple of months ago, Savanah and her parents headed to San Diego for five days of intense rehabilitation. It cost $100 an hour for four hours a day, Greg said.
“If that’s her best chance of walking, it’s worth every penny,” he said.
To help pay for the costs of the rehab, Homestead Baptist Church in Kannapolis held a pancake breakfast, and the family had a yard sale.
But there’s still a long way to go. The family hopes Savanah will return to San Diego for a couple of weeks this summer for more rehab, Greg said.
As for Saturday’s event, Greg is expecting a big turnout. Participants can donate a set amount of money, or they can ask people to sponsor them.
In a time of high gas prices and a slumped economy, Greg said he doesn’t like to request money.
“It makes me feel bad to ask,” he said.
But, he said, it’s for Savanah.