Donations requested via the Internet will benefit Matthew Rigsby, a young man from Fluvanna County who was paralyzed nearly one year ago. Rigsby and his mother, Sandra Beazley, are encouraged by the opportunities presented now that a webpage on GiveForward.org can help meet their needs.

The webpage is a credit to the lasting friendship between Beazley and her former high school classmate, Linda Layne, who reconnected on Facebook “when a special Facebook page was created for Fluvanna alumni,” Layne recalls. “That was when I learned about the situation with her son, Matthew, when she made an appeal to the alumni for help with a wheelchair ramp. I contacted her and told her my husband would be willing to help.”

After visiting Beazley’s home, Layne was able to recognize the family’s needs firsthand. “I volunteered to coordinate a fundraiser on their behalf.”

The website, http://www.giveforward.org/matthew/ provides a thorough wish list for Rigsby. It includes larger items, such as a wheelchair-accessible van that will get the young man to physical therapy and doctor appointments—and possibly fulfill his dream of leaving the house for enjoyable activities like visits with friends or just to experience something new.

“Matthew wants to visit an Alpaca farm,” Beazley says. “I found one in Scottsville. We would like to go to the zoo in DC, and he actually wants to go out to the movie theater,” a semblance of normalcy which they have not had since August of last year.

Less expensive items are also on the list, such as a pair of eyeglasses or a dental cleaning. A portable shower would give this two-person family much needed relief.

“It takes me six hours to completely bathe him and dress him, wash his hair, cut his hair,” says Beazley, who does the personal care of her son, though he out-sizes her. “It is physically exhausting for me to give him a bath.”

“Because of their multi-level home, Matthew is confined to the main floor of the house where his bed is in the living room. Their home is not equipped with a bathroom shower to accommodate Matthew’s wheelchair,” Layne states on the website.

Computer software and modified computer equipment will allow Rigsby to use the computer without assistance. He would love to realign with a goal he was working on before the accident: take classes in law enforcement and graduate from college.

Once she is certain that her son’s needs are met, Beazley could look into re-enrollment herself and finish the last semester required to earn her business management degree—a work that was in progress until the night Rigsby was paralyzed.

There are many wishes, but those most important to Rigsby’s immediate care are provided in a list on the page created by Layne. With rallied support from friends, relatives, neighbors and local businesses, this family will have hope.