A Car and Freedom for Zoe

Zoe is a valued member of the Geelong community, she has never walked, having been diagnosed with a severe debilitating muscle wasting disease, Spinal Muscular Atrophy at 12 months of age.

Now at 35, Zoe is finding it necessary to reach out to you for mobility and freedom. After a year of constant illness and feeling her disability was deteriorating, it was discovered there was a rare cancer in her sinus. Now fully recovered from the cancer, Zoe is ready to get back out and involved in her local community that she loves so dearly. However, the family car that was specifically modified to suit Zoe's wheelchair broke down after having lasted 22 years, including the daily trips back and forth to the hospital for treatment.

After hundreds of thousands of kilometres, holidays to Queensland, Sydney, Byron Bay, Adelaide, Tasmania and all around Geelong and Melbourne the car died. Having to put up with so many limitations in her life, not having the ability to get out and about with friends and family is taking its toll.

With your support we can fund the necessary vehicle for Zoe to get out of the house more often, to improve her quality of life and for her to be able to travel and continue to contribute to society with her artworks and her spirit.

Zoe has never let her disability get in the way of her leading the fullest life and to her full potential. She has faced multiple challenges, but has just overcome them by adjusting her lifestyle to suit the deterioration of her body. She has become a successful artist with her art name being Atopikushi and held her first solo exhibition in Geelong in early 2014. Zoe also teaches art groups and frequently sells artwork from her website. At the moment she lives independently with the help of carers and enjoys life with friends and family.