1 September 2023
MOORHEAD Things are taking a turn for the better for the Loerzel family. Addie Loerzel, from Addie’s Royal Cupcakes, has finally gotten her replacement power wheelchair.
Sunflower 2.0 arrived at their home in Moorhead on Monday, Aug. 28.
The Loerzels have been waiting for the chair for a little over two months since Addie’s previous chair was broken by Delta during a family trip. When Addie got off a plane in Maine over the July 4 holiday weekend, her wheelchair was returned to her in pieces.
While the U.S. Department of Transportation says less than 2% of wheelchairs break during flights, even that number is too high for those who rely on that equipment.
“There is a population of people with disabilities that won’t travel, that refuse to get on an airplane because they live in fear of their devices being damaged,” Addie’s mother, Marisa Loerzel, said in July.
The broken chair caused Addie to get a pressure sore, miss the first day of her senior year of high school and be bedridden for 22 hours a day because of the injury.
But now doctors say she has been healing at an “unheard of” rate, and the sore is 50% healed.
“I can just zoom in my chair now! Like yesterday, I was just pacing back and forth in my chair because that’s what I like to do in my chair,” Addie said.
Thanks to her speedy recovery, she is only limited to 19 hours of bed rest per day and expects to be back at school next week. Her family wants to say thanks to everyone who has sent well wishes during this difficult time.
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