South Florida boy in wheelchair gets life

Jul 18, 2023

By CBS Miami Team

Updated on: August 15, 2023 / 2:36 PM / CBS Miami

MIAMI - South Florida fourth grader Nico Herrera received a life-changing gift in the form of a van.

The vehicle was donated by the Woody Foundation. Then, several community organizations came together to raise $20,000 to outfit it just for Nico's needs.

He even got some extra gas money to help his family get around to all the places he wants to visit.

Nico, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 2, uses a wheelchair to get around but didn't have an accessible van until now.

He uses a power chair but before this big surprise at Nicklaus Children's Hospital, he would need to be moved to a manual wheelchair anytime he wanted to get in the car with his parents.

But not anymore.

Nico tells us he has some pretty big plans. "I really needed a van just to move to everywhere with my chair. And what if I go to Orlando one day? I can use my van. What if I go to Virginia? I can use my van.

It took two years and donations from many different organizations to make this happen for the Herrera family.

The CBS Miami team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSMiami.com.

First published on August 15, 2023 / 6:37 PM

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