Gabriel Sturgeon

Gabriel
Gabriel Sturgeon is a very bright 2 year old boy, born on September 20, 2007, nine days past his due date.  During his Mother’s labour, Gabriel’s heart rate went down and an emergency cesarean was conducted.  At birth Gabriel had no heart beat for fifteen minutes and after being resuscitated, Gabriel was put on the ventilator and he kept getting seizures every few seconds. At that point Doctors told his parents that he might not make it through the night and if he makes it throughout the next 48 hours he would be in the hospital for a long time as he is going to have a lot of health problems. But twenty-one days later he was discharged from the NICU with some medication to control his seizures.

At three months old, Gabriel’s parents were told that he might have Cerebral Palsy but he was not officially diagnosed until he was 20 months old.  After the official diagnosis his parents did further research on Cerebral Palsy and came across Ability Camp Inc.  A couple of weeks later Gabriel attended the September 7, 2009 – October 5, 2009 session for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Conductive Education.

Prior going to Ability Camp Inc., Gabriel had been walking with a kaye walker for about 11 months, however; he wasn’t able to sit on his own for long periods and his balance wasn’t as good, even though he was able to stand around while being supported.  During the five weeks at Ability Camp Inc., Gabriel made a lot of progress with his sitting, fine motor skills, head control, and his balance.  His breathing and allergies had also improved.  His parents also noticed that he seemed more relaxed and his muscles loosened up more during his therapy at the camp.  On his third week of Conductive Education Gabriel learned how to use quad canes.  Since then he has been using the quad canes and he now takes 5 to 6 steps on his own without support.  Gabriel will definitely be going back to Ability Camp Inc. to further his progress.