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Broken Wheelchair Keeps Cerebral Palsy Girl, 11, Homebound

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Eleven-year-old Stephanie Ocana isn’t asking for much – she’s only asking to attend school.

But the girl from Bronx, N.Y., who suffers from cerebral palsy, hasn’t been able to leave her apartment, much less attend school for more than a month because her power wheelchair broke down, reports wcbs.com.

And, Stephanie’s back-up manual wheelchair is also broken.

Stephanie was told it would not take more than a few weeks to get her wheelchair back from Rehabco, but she’s been waiting nearly two months, the TV station reports.

Jeff Offner, the head of Rehabco, said the chair is not yet fixed because of red tape like paperwork and medical reimbursement issues.

"She says she wants to go to the park; she wants to do something,” said Stephanie’s father, Eladio Diaz. “It hurts me because I can't take her out."

In the meantime, Stephanie is using a skateboard to get around her apartment.

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