A British Columbia boy with a rare muscular disorder has been given the birthday gift of a lifetime—a chance to help drive his favourite BC Transit bus.
Three-year-old Dominic Orr was diagnosed with Prader-Willi syndrome when he was born. The rare genetic condition has left him unable to speak or properly use his muscles.
“I’m his physiotherapist, I’m his doctor, I’m his mom, I’m his companion, I’m his speech therapist,” said his mother, Stephanie, who raises him as a single parent.
One day, Stephanie noticed her son was particularly responsive to buses and other moving vehicles.
“I just find stimulation, vehicles, dump trucks, buses especially – he loves. He gets very excited, he’s expressive and that’s what I strive for,” she said.
Now, vehicle-watching on the streets of Victoria has become one of their main activities during the day.
When CTV Vancouver Island ran a story about Dominic’s love of buses, provincial transit officials took note and organized a special surprise for the boy, who turned three on Saturday.
“We love children who think buses are just the bomb,” said BC Transit spokesperson Tania Bonfield. “I think (Stephanie and Dominic’s) story just touched so many here at (BC) Transit, so the entire organization reached out to us and said we needed to do something for this family.”
On Friday, an overjoyed Dominic dressed in bus driver paraphernalia -- including a hat and a high-visibility vest -- before joining a transit employee in the driver’s seat of a moving bus.
He received a private tour of the bus, went through the car wash and even got to honk the horn.
Stephanie said the tour was the best birthday present her son could have ever received.
“My whole purpose is just to keep him happy,” she said. “That’s my goal.”
Since news of Dominic’s visit to BC Transit headquarters emerged on CTV, supporters have set up a GoFundMe campaign for the boy. The campaign, called “Our little bus boy,” has raised more than $2,500 in just under a week.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island
