During camp earlier this summer in Michigan, members of the Emmanuel Church Seymour Campus student ministry helped Avery Kreinop navigate the rugged terrain.
As the students walked up big grassy and gravel hills in the woods, they took turns pushing Kreinop in his wheelchair.
He was born in 2007 with spina bifida, a type of neural tube defect that affects the spine and usually is apparent at birth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When the neural tube doesn’t close all the way, the backbone that protects the spinal cord doesn’t form and close as it should, which often results in damage to the spinal cord and nerves.
Kreinop, 16, can’t walk and has always used a wheelchair to get around.
“Avery’s small group of high school boys, it was so sweet to see how they rallied around him and they made it a mission to get him wherever he needed to go,” said Keia Blair, student ministries director for Emmanuel in Seymour.
When the students returned home from camp, they wanted to do something to help their friend because they knew he had his eye on an all-terrain wheelchair called Action Trackchair.
“They were like, ‘We have to do something. Avery wants this chair. We have to support him and get behind him,’” Blair said. “I feel like that was the start where people in our church were like, ‘What can we do to help?’ and students just rallied around him as a friend to just support him. It was so sweet to see. That was the first moment where I was like, ‘This is a huge opportunity.’”
With the church’s annual fall party coming up, everyone agreed to have it be a benefit for Kreinop. The family needs $23,000 for the Action Trackchair, and fundraising so far is around $9,000, his mother, Claire Kreinop, said.
The party will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 8 at Emmanuel, 1849 First Ave., and consist of a chili cookoff, bounce houses, pumpkin painting, a bake sale and raffles. The cost to enter the chili cookoff is $20, and the winner will receive a $50 gift card. The event is open to the public.
“Just a fun little family night for people to come and support Avery,” Blair said.
Asked about the event benefiting him, Avery smiled and said, “Super cool. I thought it was amazing. To get this track wheelchair, it means that I could do more and be more in the woods and do what I enjoy. I’m always outdoors, and it is electric and it has tracks, so it would be really helpful to get around.”
Claire said she initially had resistance in setting up a GoFundMe page because she felt like it was a handout, but she ultimately decided to do it to help her son.
“To see our church stepping in and our community is very humbling,” she said. “Seeing them step forward, they are being the hands and feet of Jesus, exactly what the church is called to do, so I am blown away by our church and our community stepping up and saying, ‘Hey, we care about you, Avery. You’re awesome.’”
Twelve weeks into her pregnancy, Claire said an ultrasound showed she might have extra fluid, so she was referred to St. Vincent Women’s Hospital in Indianapolis. After the first visit, she continued going there every other week.
“I had a healthy pregnancy. Everything went as planned. I had a C-section, and Avery was born,” Claire said. “His spina bifida, the lower lumbar is where the opening was at, which affected his walking and a couple of other things. They thought it was going to be a whole lot worse, and praise God it was not.”
Avery had a surgery the day after he was born to place a VP shunt to release the spinal fluid that was on his brain.
“He had that spinal fluid on his brain the entire time of the pregnancy, and so they had to put the VP shunt in there so it would absorb into his body,” Claire said. “That’s something he’ll have the rest of his life.”
Claire said Avery had the option to use crutches or a wheelchair, and he chose the latter.
“He’s Mr. Speed Man. He didn’t have time for crutches,” she said, smiling.
Avery said he hasn’t let spina bifida hold him back from doing the things he likes to do, including hunting, fishing and camping. He has been homeschooled for a majority of his school years and now is a sophomore.
“Other people did have doubts, but whenever they had doubts, I did what they doubted,” he said.
A couple of years ago, Claire called McCabe Outdoor Mobility, which serves Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, and learned the Action Trackchair was expensive and wasn’t covered by insurance.
“It was just so heavy on my heart. I just wanted Avery to have one of these so bad. He would thrive having one,” Claire said.
A sales representative came to their home near Brownstown and did a free demonstration.
“Of course, he fell in love. It was love at first sight,” Claire said. “We have trails on our property, and he just went everywhere, and the lady had said, ‘Really, Avery is just now big enough to even be able to have one.’”
Some time passed until Claire stepped out on faith and decided to set up an online fundraising page.
“I’m his advocate. I’m his mom,” she said. “Decisions in life can be uncomfortable, and that’s just part of it, but I knew that myself, I financially couldn’t afford it, and it would be a struggle for anyone reaching out to be able to get a track wheelchair.”
Since the GoFundMe page was created May 17, more than $3,600 has been donated. Add in church and private donations, the family has raised around $9,000.
Claire said the chair recently was delivered to the sales rep in Ohio, but she has to pay for it in full before it’s delivered to Avery.
“They’ll come out and set Avery up, and I’m going to have it all on video. This is going to be a huge event,” Claire said, smiling.
The family appreciates everyone who has supported the fundraising efforts so far and looks for the support to continue.
“I am so grateful and I am so thankful to everyone who has supported,” Claire said. “It just makes my community feel so much closer. This is truly going to help him thrive. Without the hand of Jesus being on us in this, none of this would be possible. My faith has truly been encouraged because of this cause.”
Claire said Avery’s dad, Jake Kreinop, has always taken him hunting and fishing, even packing him on his back through the woods to get to where they were hunting. His grandpa, Harold Kreinop, also has been a huge advocate in teaching him all things outdoors and hunting skills.
His uncle, Moses Manuel, has been a big part of his development in loving the outdoors, too, and his other grandpa, Dean Manuel, loves giving him rides on his John Deere Gator and giving him the chance to move around the farm easier.
“All these men have been an encouragement for Avery,” Claire said. “Being able to have an Action Trackchair, Avery will get to do so much more with the people that he loves so much.”
If you go
What: Fall party fundraiser to help Avery Kreinop get an Action Trackchair
When: 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 8
Where: Emmanuel Church, 1849 First Ave., Seymour
Who: Open to the public
Details: Chili cookoff ($20 to enter), bounce houses, pumpkin painting, a bake sale and raffles
Donate: Donations also may be made online at gofundme.com/f/averys-trackchair-fund