Mesa boy born without legs surprised with all-expense paid trip to Disneyworld

MESA, AZ (AZFamily)—Oliver is a 6-year-old boy in Mesa who was born without legs due to Baraitser-Winter syndrome. He is also nonverbal, but Oliver does not let this slow him down. He uses his hands almost like they are legs and is more mobile than most people realize.

However, life can still be challenging for his parents and younger brothers, so Arizona’s Family Surprise Squad teamed up with the non-profit Baking Memories 4 Kids to send the family on a trip of a lifetime.

Frank Squeo leads Baking Memories 4 Kids. He created the organization to send families with children facing serious health problems on an all-expense-paid vacation to the major theme parks in Orlando, Florida, including Disneyworld, Lego Land, and Universal Studios.

The charity is funded through the sales of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which people around the country buy during the holiday season.

Oliver’s family was invited to the Arizona’s Family garden on a perfect winter day to meet Frank and Arizona’s Family’s Tess Rafols.

Oliver’s mom told Tess that around 12 weeks into her pregnancy, doctors saw in the ultrasound that Oliver wasn’t developing legs. She and her husband, Jacob, moved to Arizona to get quality care for their son.

Now that he’s six, she says it’s hard to slow him down. He wears a hard plastic cast on his torso, allowing him to move about without scraping up his body. She says he likes to go to the park to climb things and also people-watch.

Since she has to raise Oliver and his brothers, she’s not able to work, so her husband Jacob brings in the paycheck while also going to college at Arizona State University to get his degree. Because of this, they’ve never been on a proper family vacation.

Frank gave Oliver a stuffed Mickey Mouse, and the boy gave it a big hug.

“Every year we’re blessed to come back here and we’re so excited to officially tell you guys you are going on a trip of a lifetime.” Frank went on to tell them about their upcoming trip to the Florida theme parks. And the surprises weren’t over just yet.

“Each year we are thrilled that Frank gets to come here and surprise a family like you guys,” Tess said as she handed Jacob an envelope. “Arizona’s Family Surprise Squad, along with your Valley Toyota Dealers, wants to make sure you guys get a little bit of help, too. So we have this for you.”

Jacob opened the envelope and got emotional when he saw Valley Toyota Dealers and the Surprise Squad were giving them $5,000. He said he got a little choked up because sometimes paying for all their expenses can be tough. Tess told him they could use that money for whatever they wanted, be it for fun, food, housing or medical expenses.

“It’s just really going to help,” Jacob said. “I’m speechless right now.”

If you would like to purchase a box of cookies from Baking Memories 4 Kids and help children like Oliver, you can do so by visiting their website.

This segment is sponsored by Valley Toyota Dealers.

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