From One Pound To Full Speed Ahead

When Mamadou Traore held his newborn son for the first time, hope felt like a long shot.

Tamba weighed just one pound—small enough to fit in the palm of his father’s hand. Doctors weren’t sure he’d make it through the night.

“I said, I don’t think he will make it,” Traore remembers. “But this boy is really a fighter.”

Twelve years later, that same boy is still fighting—and still surprising people.

Today, Tamba is a sixth grader at Foxboro Elementary in North Salt Lake, Utah. He’s nonverbal and uses a wheelchair, but those who know him best say his presence fills the room. Through a communication device, he tells teachers when he wants to go outside, which direction to turn, and even when he’d like to see a friend.

“He definitely wants to move,” said his teacher, Amanda Gunnell. “But he’s limited because he depends on others to help him get there.”

That’s what makes the next step so important.

Tamba’s current wheelchair is more than five years old, and he’s outgrown it. His family hoped insurance would cover an electric wheelchair—something that would give him independence for the first time.

The answer was no.

So his teacher did something simple—and powerful. She asked for help.

Gunnell launched a fundraiser, hoping to raise enough for a starter motorized wheelchair. Medical-grade models can cost more than $20,000, but even a basic one could open up a new world for Tamba—and help demonstrate to insurers what he’s capable of.

The response has been immediate. The community has already raised more than $14,000 (as of 5/4/2026).

For Tamba, the goal is clear: to enter junior high not as someone being pushed from place to place, but as someone moving alongside his friends.

“I want him to be able to ‘walk’ with them,” his father said.

At school, he already does—just in a different way.

Principal Shelly Truelson says Tamba is one of the most loved students in the building. His presence has quietly shaped the culture of the school, helping other students grow in empathy, patience, and understanding.

“He’s helped students develop compassion,” she said. “He brings a light.”

And there’s more waiting to be seen.

Though Tamba cannot speak, those around him are convinced he understands far more than he can express. An electric wheelchair wouldn’t just give him mobility—it would give him another way to communicate, to choose, to explore.

“To see what he wants to do with his mind, body, and soul,” Truelson said, “that’s what we’re excited about.”

A child once measured in ounces is now measured in impact—on his school, his family, and a growing circle of people who believe in what’s possible.

All he needs now is a little more momentum.

The Bright Side
Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from people who refuse to accept their limits. When a community rallies around one person’s potential, it doesn’t just change that life. It expands what everyone believes is possible.

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