A Wheelchair for Lyla

A Quad-City teenager with a rare mitochondrial disease was surprised with a very special gift.

Lyla Murdock, 19, was given a power wheelchair by the Happy Joe’s Kids Foundation. The Pleasant Valley High School student was born 12 weeks prematurely. Since then, she’s dealt with a condition that affects every system in her body. Murdock needs to conserve energy for essential activities, which led to her needing the motorized chair.

Murdock says she’s excited to see all the things she can do on her own now and hopes to pursue a job in a hospital setting.