Our team is fundraising to build an epic costume for an amazing kiddo! 

Jeff and Rhonda Rosenlieb were excited, but scared when their quadruplets were born on December 26, 2004 at 30 weeks gestation. Briana came first and weighed 2 lbs. 11oz. Conor followed at 3 lbs. 4 oz. Finally, the identical twins, Dillon and Darian were born at 2lb 2 oz. and 2 lbs. 5 oz. respectively.

They all had to stay in the NICU, however, Briana and Conor went home several weeks before Dillon and Darian could go home. When they were finally discharged, the Rosenlieb house was never silent again! Having four babies to care for was daunting, however, we are fortunate that we had so many friends, family members, and even strangers from nearby churches who helped us care for our babies.

As far as we knew, we had four healthy babies. Because they were preemies, they were closely monitored by doctors and other professionals such as Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech Language Pathologists to ensure they were hitting their developmental milestones.

When they were about a year old, we were told by a neurologist that it was possible that Dillon and Darian had CP and a brain scan would be necessary. We didn't even know what "CP" was. We had to ask him to tell me what that stood for. Cerebral Palsy. We were in shock and disbelief. We didn't even know what Cerebral Palsy was, but we quickly found out. Cerebral Palsy occurs before, during or right after birth and, due to a lack of oxygen to the brain or some other brain trauma, the brain is damaged. Darian basically has a hole in the left side of his brain which was filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Dillon has damage to the white matter motor areas of his brain. The result? We didn't know if either of them would walk, sit up or be able to do anything independently.

Fast forward to today. Darian's CP is considered mild. Dillon, on the other hand, is much more involved. During his whole life, he has endured hundreds of hours of therapy, numerous intensive therapeutic therapies, two major surgeries, and constant challenges in performing even simple tasks. We are fortunate that he is verbal and therefore able to easily communicate his needs. His whole body is affected, though. His trunk control, arm and hand functioning, mobility, and strength are severely compromised.

All 4 kids attend Coy Middle School in Beavercreek, Ohio and enjoy doing things that most 12 year olds like to do: play video games, play sports, watch movies and hang out with their friends. Dillon does these things a bit differently than his siblings, but we are fortunate that there are several options for him to play softball (Owen's Place softball) and Soccer (TOP soccer) and he is able to adapt his grip to hold and operate a video game controller and an iPad.

Dillon has always enjoyed Halloween with his siblings and joined them during Trick or Treat. However, due to his wheelchair dependency, his costumes never really stood out. He would dress up, but he never had the "cool" costume. When Jeff heard about Magic Wheelchair, he thought that would be perfect for Dillon. Magic Wheelchair has volunteers throughout the country making costumes that incorporates the wheelchair in the design so that other kids are not staring at the kid in a wheelchair but approaching him/her to talk about the costume.

Keep checking back for build and reveal updates! 

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Together we will raise more money for Magic Wheelchair than we ever could alone!

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mag·ic

verb

1. 
   move, change, or create by or as if by magic.