Mom in wheelchair fights for daughter's custody

A Connecticut woman, who uses a wheelchair due to spina bifida, is fighting for custody of her daughter. Christina Ormerod says her ex-husband wants to take their daughter, Emily, away for what he

News 12 Staff

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Nov 8, 2015, 9:15 PM

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Updated 3,540 days ago

A Connecticut woman, who uses a wheelchair due to spina bifida, is fighting for custody of her daughter.

Christina Ormerod says her ex-husband wants to take their daughter, Emily, away for what he says are safety reasons.

At the center of the debate is how Ormerod takes Emily to school. She allows her daughter to ride with her in a wheelchair for the half-mile trip, which Family Services officials say is unsafe.

Ormerod says she was also told that it would be unsafe for her daughter to walk alongside the wheelchair, even though other parents walk alongside their children to school.

Friends are hoping that if they raise enough money to buy Ormerod a handicapped accessible van with hand controls, it can prove a safe way to transport Emily.

"I just wish people would believe in me more and believe in people with disabilities more," Ormerod says.