The Story Behind Our Organization

WeDance4Life Inc. was founded by Crystal Martine after the passing of her 18 month old daughter, Tayla Renee Blackstock. Tayla struggled from a seizure-like disorder from the time she was born on May 25, 2011. Tayla was a very vibrant little girl, who because of her seizures struggled with hitting all of her infant milestones.

Honoring Tayla: The Reason Behind Our Work

Due to Tayla’s condition, Crystal was forced to retire from her job of 8 years at the Transportation Security Administration and devote 100 percent of her time to Tayla’s care. Unfortunately, Tayla lost her battle with her condition on October 31, 2012.

After Tayla’s passing, Crystal wanted to honor her daughter and families whose children have struggled with similar circumstances. She decided to dedicate her time to creating “WeDance4Life” to help support and assist families who have shared a similar experience to her own.

Dedicated to Helping Families

Tayla Renee’s weekly agenda consisted of multiple visits at the Long Island Jewish Children Center, Neurology Department where EEG’s were performed to monitor her brain wave patterns, monitoring of her blood work levels and trips to the nutritionist to help increase her weight as well as therapy 3 times a week. With all the difficulties that Tayla suffered with, raising her was a complete joy and the most wonderful 18 months of Crystal’s life. She brought so much happiness and joy to everyone’s life, that one of WeDance4Life’s main goal is to provide support to children and families who are suffering through similar pain.