Frances Neubert hasn't added a story.
My Story
I am a fighter. I have battled adversity all my
adult life. My first marriage was foul, abusive and
demoralizing. The day I walked out with my two boys under the age of
three with no more than the clothes on our backs, I vowed to never
let anyone see my struggle and never depend on others for anything I
was capable of doing for myself. But I cannot do what I need to do
now alone. I need help. That time has come.
I think I began experiencing signs of Multiple Sclerosis while staying in the shelter for battered women. I remember having vision and bladder issues. I ended up in the ER when I could not walk or empty my bladder. I did not have insurance so after it resolved with steroid treatments I never followed up with a specialist.
I went about life raising my two boys and creating a successful career in the staffing sales industries for over a decade. When I started having cognition and fatigue issues - I wrote it off to working and traveling too much. But I could no longer function in my position and I realized it was time to move on. I took a role with less responsibility at half my pay and started over yet again.
Imagine being a few months into your new position and waking up to intense pain in your eyes and total loss of color vision. It happened to me. I also had numbness and tingling in my legs and I had no bladder control. I got scared and when I plugged all my symptoms into the search box — MS was the first result. I was familiar with MS as my oldest brother sufferers with it. Even after several rounds of IV steroids I was really struggling to recover. To be honest—I was a smoker and I had plumped up to 220 lbs after the steroids. I knew I had to do something to improve my current situation. I quit smoking and over the next year lost 70 lbs. Despite my MS, I walked five miles a day, rode my bike 5 -7 miles on most week days and double most weekends. In the winter I would snow shoe and work out every day. I even completed P90x workout at 50 years young. Aside from the random relapses, I was in the best shape of my life. I was active and I participated in taking grandkids to Disney, Karate, Soccer games and everything and anything. I stacked wood, went to concerts with friends, went to my husband’s gigs, traveled the world. Fast forward to now - that fighter, survivor mentality still exists. I want to be the active wife, mom, and gramma who pushes through any obstacles in her way. The biggest obstacle is humidity/heat and fatigue.
It is harder now to push through. The facility my IT job supports is literally one million square feet. While the offices are air conditioned the plant is not. It is a foundry and temperatures are well above tolerable for my MS. My legs start out able to hold me up and walk but time on the floor and it can best be described as walking through wet cement with lead boots. After work, I can barely walk my dog around the block. I want to get out of those lead boots and get back to living my best life. I want to play with my grandchildren instead of watching them play. I want to travel with my husband again. I want to walk my dog more than a block. My dog deserves more of me. I want to say yes when friends ask me to do things. I know that if I had an alinker my body would be less fatigued, my legs would be more supported and able to tolerate more movement. If my legs were more supported during the day I would have energy to do more after work and on weekends. I do not want to watch life pass me by. I do not want to be a spectator in life. I want to participate.
So I need your help!
Won’t you help me get an Alinker?
Any size donation is appreciated.
Thank you for your consideration.
The campaigns are about sharing. Most people have no idea what life is like when you live with MS or what happens after you have a stroke. Isolation is often a bigger problem than the symptoms of the disease itself. With the campaigns we can share and educate people, because it can happen to all of us. When we create a movement where people simply show up for each other, it might get a bit ‘safer’ and less ‘scary’ to engage with each other. Some people share their experiences on their campaign, others share their funds to support the campaigns. It is not about asking for money, it is creating an opportunity for people to learn and show up with #generosity. Being generous resonates with who we are as humans. We understand generosity deeply and when you practice it, you feel so much better
PLEASE NOTE
- The campaigns are in Canadian $ (back end requirement on our side), the $2800 CAD includes the Alinker, shipping, process and campaign fees and our support.
- The campaigns are all or nothing, no credit cards are charged unless the campaign reaches its goal.
- As soon as the campaign reaches its goal, we ship an Alinker.
- Campaigners do not handle money. On disability or welfare, you cannot handle money without being penalized, but you can receive an Alinker !
- When the campaign raises more than the goal, the campaigner can chose another campaign where we then make the donation to, paying it forward, or get the balanced paid out, the choice is the campaigner's.
- If you want to start a campaign and are outside Canada or the USA, write an email to molly@thealinker.com. We can get a shipping quote to where you live, and include that in the campaign goal.
Together we build a movement of kindness and generosity, because we all need it
Why do we facilitate crowdfunding on our site?
We believe that the Alinkers should be available for everybody, regardless of income and people who start a crowdfunding campaign here, will have access to a life changing Alinker. Did you see how happy Selma Blair is using her Alinker? Her anxiety dropped from level 10 to 2 after she got back on her new Alinker. She is so happy and so on with this new invention, that she wants to create a fund to get people access to Alinkers. These crowdfunding campaigns are the first step to make Alinkers available for everybody. Selma and BE are now putting their energy together to build a generous community around all the campaigners! The campaigners are people who allow others to show up generously, give them love!
Why an Alinker?
Generally, medical devices are a technical solution for a body with a
problem.
The Alinker is designed for who we are, a whole human
being, who wants to live an active and engaged life. We are a human,
we have a body. Whether we miss a leg of have MS, it does not change
us as a person.
Yet the world we live in, treats us as a body with a problem, which creates a social divide between people based on their body, based on what we have, not on who we are. Isolation and loneliness are more devastating than the disease itself. So we need to show up for each other, acknowledge each other and be present to who we are.
These campaigns are here to bridge the gap between a high quality custom Alinker, and the people who live at the receiving end of a 'sickcare' system that drives people into poverty.
So, show up, be radically generous, it is something we humans really understand.
When you read each story in each campaign, pause and imagine who
that person is, and why they started the campaign, reach out to them,
let them know they are surrounded and seen, heard and not alone. When
we do that, we feel better and create a safer community where we know
we can show up for each other. It connects us with our essence, we are
radically generous creatures, we just got a little lost in systems
that are not designed for our wellness.
Who is the Alinker for?
The Alinker is for people who want to stay active, regardless of mobility challenges.
To operate and use the Alinker you must have the ability to:
- walk to some degree
- flex and extend your legs
- bear weight on one leg briefly while getting on and off the Alinker
- be consciously aware of your surroundings
- be aware of your ability and limitations
What is the Alinker?
The Alinker is an exceptionally cool, three-wheeled walking bike
for humans with mobility constraints. It’s not a medical device,
it’s a lifestyle tool, designed to enable users to lead active and
socially engaged lives — at eye level.
On the Alinker, users sit upright -- at eye level with standing
companions. Weight is supported by the seat with no stress on the
lower body, while handle bars provide additional support. Feet remain
on the ground, keeping users stable and safe.
Together we'll make this work, in kindness and from the heart
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