Thursday, two Ohio Valley kids with mobility disabilities were given the opportunity to enjoy life like the other kids and get a little therapy all while having some fun.
The Ryan Ferns Healthplex teamed up with Variety the Children’s Charity, which is an organization based out of Pittsburgh, to find kids who have limited mobility and in need of a bike that will help them to conquer that limited mobility and have fun with other kids. They search out kids in need who can best use the bikes to develop their physical abilities and to give them therapy while having fun. Once the children were discovered they were sent to a physical therapist to measure and fit them for the custom fit bikes.
Thursday Jacob Martin and Austin McCardle were presented with their new wheels and couldn’t wait to get rollin’. One of the boy’s moms, Lorraine McCardle, said her will truly enjoy his new set of wheels, “Besides being able to ride bikes with the other kids in the neighborhood, it’s an awesome therapy for Austin.” Austin agreed with his mom and when asked how he felt about his new bike he simply said “Excited!,” with a big smile.
Amy Martin, the mom of the other young man to get his bike said the exercise will be priceless; “It’ll be therapy he doesn’t even know he’s doing, so yeah, it’s great.” When her son Jacob was asked if he was excited about his bike he gave a big grin and said “yeah!”
One of the most important thing about receiving the new bikes is that they are donated free of charge to the families, if they qualify. Another fact is the kids can use the bike all year, because they come with a stand to make them stationary.
The Ryan Ferns Healthplex is helping to locate more children to provide bikes to, because the company has around 150 more to distribute to deserving children in need.
