Orlando150
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https://www.freep.com/story/money/c...-battery-power-medical-equipment/69557497007/
A long story but some quotes:
At age 8, Sam DeBatt told his family that an F-150 pickup truck could be the answer to their dreams.
Not because the boy loved trucks — but because the boy loved his little brother.
The family of five in Washington, D.C. hadn't traveled on a real vacation together, the kind that makes memories forever, in five years. And Sam thought a truck could make the difference if it could be a power source.
As it turned out, Sam was spot on.
Ford Motor Company officials said they never could've anticipated the circumstances outlined in a letter later written by Sam's father that revealed a very special story of a family's belief that a child is not simply his medical diagnosis but his life experiences and memories they create while cherishing every single day together.
That's where the red 2022 F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid truck with Pro Power Onboard enters the picture.
While every human being requires oxygen to live, Danny DeBatt also requires electricity.
His health is such that he depends on so much medical equipment that packing up and traveling with his parents and two brothers is not just challenging but potentially life threatening. So the family has always split, with one parent staying home with Danny and the other parent having adventures with the other two boys.
"Danny is my favorite person and I love him," Sam DeBatt told the Free Press over the phonewhile sitting on the beach at his Nana's house in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. "It gets a little lonely if we're not with the entire family. It's usually just me and my mom and my youngest brother. Mom is with my youngest brother so I don't get a lot of time with my mom."
Sam is now 10. Danny is 7. And Elliott is 5.
"The truck was my idea," Sam said. "As a family, we get more time with our parents."
"That boy depends on electricity. He can't be without those sensors," she said. "The fact that they got a hybrid truck, they'll never be without power. That's particularly important to a child that depends on a BiPap machine."
A BiPap machine pushes air into the lungs through the use of a mask or nasal plug connected to a ventilator, explains Johns Hopkins Medicine. The acronym stands for "bilevel positive airway pressure," and it's similar to the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device by people with sleep apnea.
The Ford pickup offers an essential safety net by providing access to electricity in case of emergency — for home or travel. Danny isn't hooked up to the truck. However, access to plug-in electricity is available if anything happened while he's traveling.
Initially, a family friend nominated Chris, Megan, Sam, Danny and Elliott for a camper trailer through the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic organization. Realizing they'd need a truck to tow the trailer, Chris DeBatt held off accepting the trailer until he could get his hands on the much-discussed F-150. He waited and waited and waited. Everyone in the whole country saw production slowed by supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So Chris DeBatt, 44, who works for theU.S. Department of Defense developing school policy for service military-connected students, reached out to Ford and made his case to just please keep his truck order on schedule so the family could take its first scheduled vacation over the July 4th weekend this year and then, later, a really big excursion up the East Coast to Maine.
Ford said it would try.
A Ford customer service worker contacted his boss and then her boss and then his boss and so on.
They made it happen, delivering the truck just in time for Father's Day this year.
A long story but some quotes:
At age 8, Sam DeBatt told his family that an F-150 pickup truck could be the answer to their dreams.
Not because the boy loved trucks — but because the boy loved his little brother.
The family of five in Washington, D.C. hadn't traveled on a real vacation together, the kind that makes memories forever, in five years. And Sam thought a truck could make the difference if it could be a power source.
As it turned out, Sam was spot on.
Ford Motor Company officials said they never could've anticipated the circumstances outlined in a letter later written by Sam's father that revealed a very special story of a family's belief that a child is not simply his medical diagnosis but his life experiences and memories they create while cherishing every single day together.
That's where the red 2022 F-150 PowerBoost Hybrid truck with Pro Power Onboard enters the picture.
While every human being requires oxygen to live, Danny DeBatt also requires electricity.
His health is such that he depends on so much medical equipment that packing up and traveling with his parents and two brothers is not just challenging but potentially life threatening. So the family has always split, with one parent staying home with Danny and the other parent having adventures with the other two boys.
"Danny is my favorite person and I love him," Sam DeBatt told the Free Press over the phonewhile sitting on the beach at his Nana's house in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. "It gets a little lonely if we're not with the entire family. It's usually just me and my mom and my youngest brother. Mom is with my youngest brother so I don't get a lot of time with my mom."
Sam is now 10. Danny is 7. And Elliott is 5.
"The truck was my idea," Sam said. "As a family, we get more time with our parents."
"That boy depends on electricity. He can't be without those sensors," she said. "The fact that they got a hybrid truck, they'll never be without power. That's particularly important to a child that depends on a BiPap machine."
A BiPap machine pushes air into the lungs through the use of a mask or nasal plug connected to a ventilator, explains Johns Hopkins Medicine. The acronym stands for "bilevel positive airway pressure," and it's similar to the CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device by people with sleep apnea.
The Ford pickup offers an essential safety net by providing access to electricity in case of emergency — for home or travel. Danny isn't hooked up to the truck. However, access to plug-in electricity is available if anything happened while he's traveling.
Initially, a family friend nominated Chris, Megan, Sam, Danny and Elliott for a camper trailer through the Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic organization. Realizing they'd need a truck to tow the trailer, Chris DeBatt held off accepting the trailer until he could get his hands on the much-discussed F-150. He waited and waited and waited. Everyone in the whole country saw production slowed by supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So Chris DeBatt, 44, who works for theU.S. Department of Defense developing school policy for service military-connected students, reached out to Ford and made his case to just please keep his truck order on schedule so the family could take its first scheduled vacation over the July 4th weekend this year and then, later, a really big excursion up the East Coast to Maine.
Ford said it would try.
A Ford customer service worker contacted his boss and then her boss and then his boss and so on.
They made it happen, delivering the truck just in time for Father's Day this year.
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