Home Depot supervisor builds walker for Niles toddler with hypotonia

An idea, some elbow grease, and a trip to aisle 11 of the Home Depot in Niles were all it took to help give one young girl a better chance at mobility and independence. 

For 18-month old Rosie Allmon's family, the past year and a half have been difficult, after Rosie was diagnosed with a rare condition called hypotonia at birth. 

"I could say it was heartbreaking because it wasn't something we were expecting as parents," said Rosie's mom, Leigh-Ann Ellis. 

According to Boston Children's Hospital, hypotonia is a condition that causes a loss of muscle tone in infants and young children. 

Hypotonia can be a condition on its own, or it can be indicative of another problem where there is progressive loss of muscle tone, such as muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy. 

"Hypotonia is like a lack of muscle tone usually in certain areas, but it usually does affect the whole body," said Michael Allmon, Rosie's dad. "It's going to be different for her. She's going to have to learn how to adjust and adapt, but I have no doubt she'll be able to do that."

But the difficulties in learning to walk and other developmental milestones haven't hindered Rosie's sunny disposition. 

"She's cheerful to everyone. She's always smiling. She's never mad. She's always happy. Even with the hypotonia, it doesn't affect her ability to laugh and be a normal child. It's like she doesn't have it," said Ellis. 

So when Allmon ran across an idea on social media that might help Rosie in her attempts to strengthen her muscles and walk better, he asked his supervisor at Home Depot for an opinion.

"He mentioned to me one day that he read online that another Home Depot made a walker for a kid with a very similar disorder," said Allmon's supervisor, Michael Olenik. "He asked me if that was something that we could pull off here and I said absolutely." 

From there, Olenik knew he wanted to help, even though he had never met little Rosie. 

"I'm a father myself, and I feel for Mike. I think him and Rosie both deserve something nice," Olenik said. 

So from there, the mission to build Rosie her own walker developed. 

"We did a little research, and we made a few sketches to try to figure out what would be the sturdiest and the lightest, and most durable materials that we could use. Once we settled on materials, he just gave me leeway to make it; however, I thought was best," Olenik said. 

At that's just what he did — fitting together a small walker made of PVC pipe and heavy-duty casters with brakes. 

Olenik even made it so that Allmon could adjust the walker as Rosie grows. 

"Painted it orange because that's the color he wanted it and decorated it with a few flowers to kind of 'girl' it up for her so," Olenik said. 

When Rosie saw the walker, her father says she lit up. 

"She is excited about everything that she sees the first time, so her face would light up. And as soon as she took that first step, she was happy," he said. 

And though Rosie has learned to take a few steps on her own, Ellis is hoping the added stability will help her get stronger. 

"She's actually taking the steps, and she's actually able to walk. She still has that wobbly in her so that she's not able to physically walk by herself yet," she said. 

But there's hope for the future. "They think by Christmas she'll be able to walk by herself," Ellis continued. 

As the adults of the family walk behind Rosie, keeping a careful eye, they know she's on her way to big things. 

"See how proud she is of herself?" said Allmon. "She's growing up way too fast, unfortunately, so you know, the independence part is not really something I'm ready for, but she deserves it."

And to see someone on the outside step in has meant the world to the family. 

"It brightens up my day to know that somebody out there cares about somebody else's child that is in need," said Ellis. "It shows that other people have hearts."

As for Olenik, he's just happy that the family is happy, he says all he can hope is someday, someone else will pay it forward.