BUTLER TWP — Life has not been easy so far for Ryan Fester.

Ryan, who is 3, lives in Meridian with his family and needs medical attention almost around the clock.

Though some of his care is covered by insurance, the family is seeking donations through a page on gofundme.com to renovate their home, a three-bedroom ranch-style house, to include a bedroom and a wheelchair-accessible bathroom.

Ryan has cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that affects body movement and muscle coordination.

He also suffers from life-threatening seizures that have caused him to be flown to Pittsburgh by medical helicopter.

He recently received another diagnosis, autonomic dysfunction, a disorder that affects the nervous system and is characterized by episodes similar to seizures that doctors call “storming,” his mother Denise Fester said.

Ryan's health problems started the day he was born at Butler Memorial Hospital and suffered brain damage.

His blood sugar-level dropped to a dangerously low level after his umbilical cord was cut. Doctors wanted to fly him by helicopter to West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, but a helicopter was unavailable because of poor weather conditions, so he was taken by ambulance, delaying his emergency care, Fester said.

The family has 56 hours per week of nursing care and 35 hours per week of care from a nurse's aide covered by its insurance and Denise is also home with Ryan most of the time and takes him to frequent doctors appointments.

He is non-verbal and is fed through a tube connected to his stomach.

Ryan's father Fred Fester travels for work and is typically out of town six out of seven days each week. They also have three other children at home.

Ryan is on medication for his seizures that makes him too weak to even hold his own head up, Denise said, but before he went on those medications he was making progress getting around with help from a gait trainer — a horseshoe-shaped walker with wheels.

The family is hopeful that he can have a surgery to install a pacemaker-like device that will help prevent seizures and allow him to come off the harsh medication.

“For what he's been through, he's a happy little boy. He loved to play with Legos. When you walk in to see him, he's got a big old smile for you,” she said.

The family also is hoping to get a larger vehicle that could better accommodate a wheelchair and other equipment Ryan needs to get around.

The gofundme page, created by Ryan's cousin Robin Marie Perfetta, has a goal of $25,000, though the family will likely need more than that to get the vehicle, Fester said.

To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/nh-ryans-medical-expenses-fund.