(FOX 46) — Friends and total strangers alike are coming together and getting results for a young boy with microcephaly.
The 4-year-old boy is completely dependent on his grandparents. One Charlotte woman heard his family’s story and knew she could help.
Jalaybrian can’t walk or talk. He was diagnosed with microcephaly when he was only 5-months-old.
“When we first got him they told us that he couldn’t hear, he couldn’t see, he won’t have motor skills, and the kid…he can see,” William Black said.
He wasn’t expected to live past one year. Now at four, he lives with his grandparents, William and Susan Black.
“This young man here is growing like a weed now,” William Black said.
A problem, they don’t have a bedroom downstairs for Jalaybrian.
“Taking him back and forth up the steps, and then me running up and down the steps to get things he needs so that kind of takes a toll on me,” Susan Black explained.
An application for funding to renovate their garage for him was turned down. Then, Christina Lewis of The Redesign Company heard their story.
“A friend of mine came for dinner and I was complaining to her that we didn’t get a shot on HGTV redesigning garages and she said, ‘I have a garage you can redesign,’” Lewis explained.
“She came over, looked at the garage and she said I can do this. She said I can do this. I was like, ‘Really?’ I was like it’s a miracle to me, like a miracle,” Susan Black said.
Lewis came up with a plan, posting about Jalaybrian on her blog and started a GoFundMe account to pay for it all and that’s when the community really stepped in, donating more than $9,000 to make the Black’s dream a reality.
“I can’t really put it in words how thankful I am, all the people that donated to have this done. God knows, I’d like to thank them for putting in their hard-earned money,” William Black said.
Thursday is supposed to be the final installation, and the grand reveal, where the Blacks will get their first real look at Jalaybrian’s room. Catch the story Thursday only on FOX 46 Charlotte.
