Kayden Kinckle—a 6-year-old amputee who has used his journey to inspire and motivate others—will now be able to get around easier after receiving a huge gift from actor Jussie Smollett. The “Empire” actor recently gave Kinckle a van equipped with a wheelchair lift so that his travels to and from school can go a lot smoother, Vibe reported.
Kinckle—who hails from Englewood, New Jersey—had a rough start to the school year, the news outlet writes. On the first day of school, the Englewood Public School district was unable to send a wheelchair accessible bus to pick him up from his house. Until the district could figure out a solution, his family had to fit his wheelchair in their car and take him to another school where he would have to wait for a school bus to drop students off and then take him to his destination; ultimately causing a lot of stress for the first-grader and his family.
According to CBS, the district’s superintendent claimed that there was a paperwork oversight between the bus line and the school. However, Kinckle’s mom, Nicole Sessoms, says her son is the only double amputee in their county so she didn’t understand how he could be forgotten about.
After hearing about Kinckle’s story, 35-year-old Smollett took action and gave him his own van. “He saw what was happening with the bus and he called me and said ‘Kayden needs his own van!,” Sessoms told the news outlet. She has shared her son’s journey through social media.
Kinckle is a youngster who has defied the odds. He was born with several medical issues including omphalocele which causes organs to form outside of the body and his umbilical cord was wrapped around his legs which left them deformed. Although doctors told him and his family that walking on his own wouldn’t be possible, he has started to walk using his prosthetics and has made it a goal of his to become more active.
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