ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Gage is an 11-year-old boy living in Pinellas County with his family.
He was recently diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder that’s progressive, and there’s no cure.
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His life expectancy is about 20 years, and with this disease, it triggers episodes that come with all kinds of symptoms.
“He’s had loss of movement, he’s had loss of function where he’s had to relearn how to walk, relearn how to eat, relearn how to stand,” said Christina Carnahan, friend of the family and organizer of Gage’s Garage Car Show birthday party.
A video of Gage crying during one of his bad medical episodes was shared online and went viral.
“About a month ago, I got a message from his mom saying his birthday was coming up and how much he loves mail. So she asked if our family would personally write him a letter for his birthday so he could walk to the mailbox and get it. I had recently partnered with The Dream Machine foundation out of LA on another child’s story and wish, and I asked for her permission to share his story with them in the hopes of getting quite a few letters for Gage to celebrate with,” said Carnahan.
That post caught the attention of people around the world. The response for letters was massive. They got more than 1,500 of them.
“Just to see the love that is pouring out from every corner of this planet, like no kidding, we’ve gotten things from Australia, one of the cards that Gage opened the other day was from Bermuda,” said Carnahan.
People started asking if they could send Gage presents.
“So we started an Amazon wish list. He’s received close to 400 boxes, which we surprised him with this past weekend,” said Carnahan.
Gage had been upset that he couldn’t have a traditional birthday party because of his hospital stays.
Then people started asking what they could do for him locally. That’s when Carnahan began organizing a birthday party.
“To understand that somebody just wants to have a birthday party was heartbreaking, and so we wanted to show up for him in the biggest way possible,” said Carnahan.
They decided to throw him a surprise car show birthday party this weekend because he loves cars and racing.
Everyone is invited to come. They want as many people as possible to show up for Gage.
It’s from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at LeavenLaw at 3900 First Street North in St. Petersburg.
If you have a cool car, you’re invited to bring that too.
“We’ve got cars, we’ve got jeeps, we’ve got motorcycles, we’ve got everything from customs to exotics, the Lamborghinis, all of it,” said Carnahan.
There will be a DJ, food, and fun for the whole family.
The one thing Carnahan is still hoping to do is partner with someone in the community to get the family a new car, one big enough they fit Gage’s wheelchair.
They currently only have one car, and Carnahan said it’s falling apart.
“Our wishlist would be a 2020 or newer Sequoia, 4Runner, or Chevy Tahoe. Ideally, a big SUV where they can fit the wheelchair in the back. And then it needs to have a hitch because as the diagnosis does progress, they want to be able to put a cart kind of on the back of it if at some point he does need to transition to anything that’s motorized. We’re really, really hoping to partner with somebody in the next 2 days to make this happen and surprise the family at the event with a vehicle that they desperately need,” said Carnahan.
At his young age, Gage has been through more than most people, but through it all, he’s a fighter.
His family wants you to know that he’s more than his disease. He’s an incredible boy who just wants to be a kid and have fun like any other 11-year-old.
“He’s a great kid. He’s a great kid and we’re happy to be able to support him,” said Carnahan.
“It’s been incredible. It’s been really overwhelming in a positive way. And it honestly just restores my faith in humanity to see that so many people are willing to step up for a stranger,” she added.
“You know, it might just be time we take a look if HOAs are really even necessary.
Maybe we should just do away with homeowner associations as a whole.”
South Florida lawmaker Rep. Juan Carlos Porras (R-Miami) says it may be time to do away with homeowners associations altogether, as more Floridians speak out about rising fees, costly lawsuits, and even arrests tied to HOA disputes. He said this week that he is considering filing legislation in the next session that would abolish HOAs statewide.
