14-year-old Emerson loves being outdoors and has a smile that would light up any room. The active 14-year-old from Prince George was diagnosed with Autism and Global Developmental Delay and most recently, Hao Fountain Syndrome … an extremely rare genetic disease. In fact, she was the 97th person in the world to be diagnosed.

With her diagnosis, Emerson is unable to perform many daily tasks on her own. Because of that, it is extremely difficult for her to interact and engage with her parents and her two sisters. Her previous chair had no wheels and was not very adaptable to her needs which also meant a lot of heavy lifting for the family in order to move her around even within the house.

Variety was able to provide Emerson with an activity chair which is conducive to her learning and facilitates her eating routine giving her a lot more independence. With the wheels and adjustable height, it makes it much easier to maneuver as well as allowing Emerson to be more involved with family activities such as joining her mom, Gina at the kitchen counter to cook and bake – which Emerson loves – or eating outside with her family. The activity chair is a blessing for the family and has not only improved Emerson’s quality of life but also her family’s as they are now able to do more things together. Gina shared that “It’s all about Emerson’s quality of life. And I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot with the activity chair as it alleviates the physical demands of lifting her around. Thank you Variety!”