Alexandria  still remembers the first time she and her brother rolled their bright‑blue portable SureHands lift through the doors of Hartford HealthCare’s physical‑therapy gym. “For years we could only dream about getting treatment here,” she tells us. “The clinic doesn’t have ceiling tracks or floor lifts, so it was always a no‑go.”

That changed the day Chive Charities donors funded a portable lift for her family. Suddenly, what used to be an immovable barrier became a set of wheels—and those wheels carried the siblings straight into the care they’d been missing.

Inside the gym, they spotted a familiar face: Jill, their new physical therapist, once worked as their personal‑care assistant while finishing school. Seeing her waiting by the therapy mats felt like life coming full circle. “We laughed because none of us ever pictured reuniting in a professional clinic, but there we were—Jill as our PT, and us with the very equipment that made the visit possible."

With the lift hooked to its sturdy sling, Alexandria was soon rising out of her wheelchair and settling onto a treatment table. Her brother followed, making the smooth transfer look effortless. The pair spent the next hour stretching tight muscles, testing balance, and coaxing strength back into limbs that Friedreich’s Ataxia tries so hard to steal.

Alexandria says, “It’s not just the exercise. When you can move safely and push your body a little, you remember what hope feels like. That lift is a lifesaver—physically and emotionally.”

The siblings have already noticed small victories. Flexibility is up. Core strength is holding steadier. More importantly, their confidence is soaring. Inspired, they’re doubling down on advocacy work, urging hospitals and clinics to invest in lift technology so that no one else has to drag a dream through a doorway the way they once did.

Until that day arrives, they carry their own doorway with them. And every time its wheels roll across a threshold, Alexandria whispers a silent thank‑you to the people who made it possible.

“Please let everyone at Chive Charities know how grateful we are,” she says. “This lift didn’t just open doors—it opened a whole new world.”