- What having playgrounds be accessible does for families is, that it says, "You are welcome here."

(gentle music) (children murmuring) ♪ - I just believe that, I don't think that any one thing should define a person, especially a disability.

I definitely consider the Miracle Park kind of a sacred place, and I think the whole community feels that way about it.

♪ I think Miracle is a great name for it.

That park means everything to me.

(gentle instrumental music) ♪ My name's Karen West, and I'm President of the Friends of Gallatin Miracle Park nonprofit organization.

[Anchor] Tabitha West suffers from brain damage and epilepsy.

[Anchor 2] And the best way for her to communicate is through painting.

- [Anchor] Tabitha suffers from several seizures a day, since the day she was born.

It's hard for Tabitha to do anything without the help of her parents and her 12-year-old brother.

Even communicating, is a challenge.

[Karen] She's very limited in her abilities.

And one thing that she can do is art.

And she's always enjoyed doing art.

This is an original painting that Tabitha did in 2013.

That was one thing that she could do.

She was using her hands and she was loving the whole tactile thing, and she was creating these masterpieces.

We would turn them in, we would enter them into contests and she would win.

Tabitha started getting a lot of requests for artwork, and we ended up raising almost $11,000 towards a wheelchair-accessible vehicle for her.

- People was buying it and we was shipping it to 'em.

To us, it's priceless.

(gentle instrumental music) Sometimes, people are afraid of what they don't know when it comes to people with disabilities.

I probably, was one of those people.

She used a wheelchair her entire life and I had to really think about and strategize where we were gonna go and what we were gonna do.

(gentle instrumental music) I wanted her and her friends with disabilities to feel just as valuable in our community as anyone else.

I just wanted a place that she could go and do things like all the other kids were doing.

(gentle instrumental music) We gonna walk?

How do you say shoes?

Shoes.

Then we hang.

Yep, hang, good job.

Then we let go.

Good work.

Go, go, go, go, go, go!

There he goes, get him!

Get him!

Oh, we'll let him win this time.

(birds chirping) And because, she doesn't chew anything, she gets enzymes for digestion.

She gets an allergy pill.

She gets Omegas and Vitamin D. (Avonlea vocalizing) - Are you eating?

(Liz laughing) - What you doing, Avs?

- I'm ready for my close-up.

My name is Heather Broadaway and I am Avonlea's mom.

I am Elizabeth Broadaway and I'm Avonlea's mom.

Technically, you're mommy.

- I am mommy.

- And I'm Mom-Mom.

- Yes.

This works her vestibular system that isn't getting the input that it normally does, which then helps her vision and her balance and all that fun stuff, so, all right, that's enough.

HIE, the range of what that looks like is so different.

So we did not know if she would even be mobile.

We did not know if she would be talking.

We didn't know any of those things.

- Now, twist.

(mellow music) And then, do your white one.

Seeing other people with neurotypical children and how easy things come for their kids, just kind of realizing it's not gonna be that easy for Avonlea or it's not that easy right now.

(mellow instrumental music) - At three-hours-old, when she was fighting for her life, she was determined to be here.

She had a purpose and I want her to have as much independence as she wants to have.

And based on her personality, it's gonna be quite a lot.

(Elizabeth laughing) - I'm right here.

- Okay, okay.

Where is gorilla eat bananas?

In the jungle!

Ah!

Hello, lady!

(children murmuring) I'm flying!

- You gotta hold on.

(children murmuring) - My name's Avery Nixon and I am 12.

- [Amy] Are you excited about chorus, that's like your favorite class, right?

- Yes!

- Chorus?

- Chorus.

- What do you do in chorus?

- Singing.

♪ And we're not coming down ♪ This girl is on fire ♪ This girl is on fire ♪ She's walking on fire - We didn't know what was wrong for 10 years of her life and we had to deal with doctors telling us like they don't know what it is.

And when you have doctors saying they don't know what's wrong, sometimes it feels like they think nothing is wrong.

- Do you like bugs or fairies, Dad?

- Bugs, but I think you like fairies better than bugs.

Could be something as simple as putting on clothes, still is a struggle.

Sometimes that struggle is one of those where you gotta leave the room for a minute, kind of collect herself.

I know that she can do a lot more.

She has more potential than she gives herself credit for.

So it's just a matter of trying to build that confidence up.

(gentle instrumental music) - Two, three, four, five, six.

[Amy] When you don't know anybody who's been in a similar situation, it's kind of isolating and it's just really nice to find your people.

[Avery] Ready or not, here I come.

- There wasn't any place to go for children that were in wheelchairs.

There was nowhere, there wasn't a playground that they could go and actually be involved on the playground.

Tabitha and I went to the mayor and asked about a wheelchair swing and it was well received, but we were told there wasn't any funding.

There was so much interest in our community.

And so, you start talking to other people and we can raise money, we can do fundraisers and it kinda lit a fire.

- NewsChannel 5's Kristen Scovira found out how the city of Gallatin is working to give these children a special place of their own.

(children cheering) - [Anchor] A special ball field, pedal park and a large playground set for an all-inclusive environment.

The park was possible with a $500,000 grant from the state of Tennessee matched by the city of Gallatin, with more help coming from donors.

- [Karen] The day we went over for the groundbreaking, there was so many people there.

(everyone cheering) - [Anchor] It started with a message from Gallatin's mayor, Paige Brown.

- It was from a mother of a young lady, and this young lady wanted a wheelchair swing.

[Amy] They did a ribbon cutting and opened the gates and it was like everybody just poured in and I think she lit up.

You know, her smile was huge and the kids were all so excited to go and use the park.

[children talking] (intense instrumental music) (children murmuring) How do I get down?

[Avery] I like the slide castle and the tower at the top.

'Cause I love princesses in the castle 'cause I love princess.

[Dr. Ledford] One of the reasons why playgrounds are particularly important for inclusion and for allowing kids to sort of, see the range of human diversity, is because playgrounds are where kids are sort of in their element.

What having playgrounds be accessible does for families is, that it explicitly says, "You are welcome here."

(gentle music) (children murmuring) - (chuckles) Go, go, go.

Go, go, go.

(Liz & Avonlea laughing) - Just having a park that has a swing for wheelchairs, even just that small thing, would make a big difference, let alone like an entire park that's accessible.

It's huge that they just get that freedom to be a kid.

- I am 12.

- I am seven.

- And I got dog named Truvy May Nixon.

- And we gave away our dog, Maggie.

[Liz] For a kid who is not normally social but can go up to somebody and play next to them, you can't measure that.

But that mom, sure as heck can measure that, because that's not something their kid ever did before.

[Amy] It takes people in the community to talk to their government leaders and express the importance of parks like this and those people can make huge changes, you know.

- One, two, three, go.

- Yes, ma'am!

- Just from a moral standpoint, right?

Everyone should be able to access physical movement, but advocating for something like that and seeing it through, takes an incredible amount of time.

So I think as a society, we have to decide that it's important for us to have facilities and activities that are available to everyone.

I will say, that parents can make real change.

(hands tapping) [Karen] One thing that we wanted to do was to have events specifically, just for children with special needs.

We created these events that we call VIP because to us, they are very important people.

- The event today is a first responder day.

It's called Touch-A-Truck.

So they get to look at the fire trucks and police cars and ambulances and interact with the first responders.

- I like your fireman hat.

You're welcome.

- [Karen] Look at you, Avery.

- We get more out of it, I'm sure, than they do.

It is very rewarding and it takes very special people to care for these great children, each and every day.

(officer grunting) (Karen laughing) - [Chief Pryor] Do you want a helmet?

- You wear sunglasses?

[Quinton] This is the pup.

I am so proud of what has been accomplished over there.

However, I'm very sad that my daughter's not here to enjoy it and to appreciate all of those things.

I'll literally, think about her all the time, and I miss her very much.

Tabitha got sick with a virus and it came on very suddenly and she just got really, really sick.

Her little body just couldn't handle it anymore.

So just to have that spirit and presence in my life, changed me in ways that obviously, I can't even put into words.

It's just really hard too, but, I'm grateful that I was her mother.

(mellow instrumental music) That park is a way for me to honor my daughter and remember her and remember that, you know, her life had many different purposes.

That park is one of her life's purposes, I think.

(children murmuring) (crowd applauding) [Nate] I like the fact that the park allows Avery to exercise those abilities to be a little more independent.

She sees that she can do it there and let it reflect in other things in life where she can overcome those challenges.

- You did it, nice job.

Yeah, look at you.

[Heather] I would like to see Avonlea accomplish in her life, what a neurotypical person would accomplish, being able to grow up, go to prom, go to college if she wants to, get married, if she wants to.

I want her to have the goals and to do the things that she wants to do independently, just like anybody else would.

[Karen] I don't know what the future holds, but I know that Tabitha is still gonna be a part of it.

I feel like her purpose is still being formed.

I don't feel like it's finished yet.

That's kind of how I feel about the park.

She is still here and that she is enjoying it.

She's just enjoying it from a different view.

(mellow instrumental music) ♪ (gentle violin music) ♪ ♪ (ambient music)