Seven-year old Hayden Trigg from Austin, Texas, has trouble playing with other kids. Diagnosed with spina bifida and cerebral palsy, simple play activities were a challenge for him.
But thanks to a grant from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Hayden is now able to play in a treehouse just like other kids.
The grant funded the construction of a treehouse, made accessible to a wheelchair by way of a wooden ramp, in the family’s backyard between 200-year-old oak trees. The project was completed earlier this month.
“It’s leveled the playing field for him,” Hayden’s mom, Adrienne Trigg, told ABC News. “He goes outside but cannot play, but that will change this summer.”
When the treehouse was completed, Trigg’s entire first-grade class rode the bus to his house to play with him.
“It was the best day of his life,” his mother said. “His wish was to share it with his friends. He’s got to be the most popular kid in school right now.”
The treehouse also doubles as a place where Trigg can do his physical therapy, and he’s been using the wooden ramp to break new barriers for himself.
“He has very low muscle tone, so it’s hard for him to go long distances in his manual chair,” his mother said. “For the very first time, he took the manual chair up and down the ramp because he was so excited.”
