Southfield family seeking to replace handicap-accessible transport van
A Southfield family that is involved with helping other families now needs help of their own.
Hope Sovran, 29, travels, volunteers, performs in theater and even danced with Ellen on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
"I like to paint, draw and look at pictures," Hope Sovran said.
But there is a reason why her parents, Andrew and Nancy, gave her the name Hope.
"We knew Hope was going to be born with spina bifida. She was going to be pretty sick when she was born and was not going to be able to walk," said her mother, Nancy Sovran.
Spina bifada is a disease that impacts a baby's spine during the early stages of pregnancy, leaving many paralyzed for life. There is no cure, only treatment.
"When she was first born, there was a whole list of things they had to do. And so it's like every year, she was in the hospital to fix this fix that," said her father, Andrew Sovran.
Since her birth, Hope Sovran has undergone 119 surgeries, yet she remains joyful.
"How are you so strong with everything you have gone through?" asked CBS News Detroit's Julia Avant.
"My parents, of course, and my siblings, I'd do anything for them," Hope answered.
Despite the Sovran family working through Hope's medical challenges, they volunteer to children in the hospital. One of those efforts is decorating hospital rooms through the nonprofit Wish Upon a Teen, which has since named Nancy Sovran its executive director.
"I love everything she does," says Hope about her mother, "And my dad, my dad is the greatest."
Recently, the van the family has been using to get Hope to and from home has died. They shifted to using an older van that doesn't work well for transportation.
"It's not pretty how I get Hope in the van and her wheelchair through the back," said Nancy.
That's why her friends are helping to raise money to get the family a new van.