Ava was born on July 22, 2002 in Brooklyn, New York to proud parents, NYC firefighter Brian McManus and his wife Hyemin Chon. Hyemin enjoyed a healthy, normal pregnancy with their child arriving only 4 weeks earlier than full term. Her labor and delivery were normal, without any apparent complications. When Ave was born, the only irregularity she experienced was an initial "floppiness" in one of her arms.

However, as time passed, heartache struck Brian and Hyemin as they notice that Ava was missing her developmental milestones. She couldn't hold her head as other children of her age. She couldn't roll over, sit or crawl. Ava underwent many testing in her parent's attempt to uncover the reasons for her delayed developmental progress. Genetically and physically everything was normal. In November 2004, Ava was finally diagnosed with Diskonetic Cerebral Palsy.

The McManus' tried various therapies obtaining slight improvements in Ava's muscular strengthening. Her therapies included hippo therapy (horseback riding), sacrocraneal therapy and massage. Ava only receives one and half hours of traditional physical therapy per week at her UCP school in Brooklyn.

Brian received from his mother a newspaper article about Therapies 4 Kids, a clinic in her Fort Lauderdale hometown, specializing in Intensive Pediatric Therapy in conjunction with the TheraSuit method. With this therapy Ava would get 60 hours of therapy in three weeks, the amount that would take a whole year in her UCP school, while experiencing the unparallel advantages of the TheraSuit. The McManus’ agreed to allocate all the resources they could to provide Ava with this unique therapy which brings real breakthroughs for children with physical and cognitive challenges.

The McManus’ came to Therapies 4 Kids on June, 2006 with goals to strengten Ava’s core muscles. In just a few weeks, Ava’s parents have noticed dramatic improvements in Ava’s strength and control of her body movements. “We hope to continue this therapy and add the Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy annually because we believe that allowing this therapy at her young age will greatly help set the stage for a future full of possibilities.”

AVA needs much more therapy. By donating generously Ava might be able to achieve the independence that every child deserves.