Photo by QUENTIN ROUX
Staff
Dr. Janette Bosetin of the Collier County School District tutors Olivia Davis at a home session on July 1. Olivia’s T-shirt reads The Dog Ate My Homework.
With just a hint of amusement in her eyes, and her enigmatic smile on her face, Olivia Davis summed up her life at the moment.
“Therapy and schoolwork,” she said.
“And, swimming and having friends over,” she added as an afterthought.
The 10-year-old, who captured the hearts and minds of Marco Island after undergoing extensive brain surgery to rid of her recurring seizures over the past three years, continues to rally.
She’s now at home catching up on her missed schoolwork with a county school district tutor, and in Naples is undergoing daily therapy sessions which have been extended by the Davis’ insurance company.
“We appealed to the company through a lengthy process and received approval for two more months of therapy,” said mom Stephanie. “At a $600 a day cost, that is fantastic news.”
She said an added pro is that the company will reevaluate after those two months, and possibly extend more visits as long as Olivia is making progress.
That, Stephanie Davis said, would give the family time to continue with the therapy while having a therapy room at the house completed.
The room is destined to be completed through the generosity of a plumber, an architect, a contractor and also the support of the City of Marco Island, which will waive permit fees.
Olivia’s operation expectedly caused virtual paralysis on the left side of her body, and the rehabilitation is geared at improving these disabilities.
In the cards, through a recent fundraiser organized by the Prange family of Marco Island, is an electronic leg brace which will help Olivia walk with a more normal gait.
“Now we’re working on one for her arm,” said Stephanie Davis, “and also one that will extend her visual field on her left side, because she has no peripheral vision on that side.”
That, of course, means more money, and fundraising organizer Missy Prange is not letting up.
She will launch an on-line auction once the tax ID number has come through, and plans more fund-raisers in the future.
“The first one raised enough to buy the leg brace, and now it’s the one for the arm,” Prange said.
Stephanie Davis said she couldn’t thank the people of Marco Island enough.
“This community is amazing,” she said. “Many people we don’t even know extended themselves to us.”
Anybody wishing to help should contact Prange at her missyprange@comcast.net e-mail address, or call her at 595-0702.
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