Hey Gerard,
Thanks for your thoughts on this…well, there you have it people…get your asses in gear and get your stuff ordered…this is a 0% profit for me and Cervelo, in fact, a loss so far!!! and with great gear you will be DIRECTLY helping children out…
…we have faces and we have their stories…
ZOEY
…is accustomed to overcoming challenges. She was born premature and lost her mother when she was very young. Three years ago, Zoey was playing in a small building near the road with her sister when a truck lost control and crashed into the building, killing her sister and trapping Zoey beneath the truck for nearly three hours. She lost her left leg in the accident. Zoey really enjoyed cycling before her accident and she hopes to feel the wind in her hair and the feeling of freedom again.
Zoey is requesting a hand-cycle that will enable her to stay active and exercise more.
SAM
…was born and immediately placed in an orphanage in Tulcea, Romania in October of 1993. Adopted at age 2 1/2, he was able to overcome his serious institutional rocking and lack of trust with the love and help of his new parents. Only two years later, at age 4 ½, Sam contracted a flesh eating disease which caused him to lose his right leg below the knee. This illness slowed him down for only a month and Sam was soon on the ski slopes and playing hockey, baseball and football. He dreams to someday be someone famous.
Sam is requesting funds that will allow him to travel to, and participate in, a ski training camp.
DYLAN
…You’d have a hard time convincing Dylan that he’s challenged. In the fall he plays flag football and soccer, in the winter swimming and basketball. His summers are focused on baseball. He was diagnosed with Undifferentiated Sarcoma at the age of just 10 months and underwent almost a year of chemotherapy and several surgeries to treat the golf ball-sized tumor behind his right knee. One year later, the tumor returned. Coming from a family that is very physically active helped Dylan get back on his feet (on the basketball court, no less!) and back in the game. Now, at age nine, Dylan is extremely active and hopes to travel to the national championships with his wheelchair basketball team.
Dylan is asking for funds to travel to the Junior National Championships for wheelchair basketball.
ETHAN
…was born with TAR syndrome, which is characterized by the absence of the radius bone in the forearm and a dramatically reduced platelet count (the clotting agents in blood). With the help of special suits and flotation devices that could assist this child with no arms and one severely bent leg, Ethan’s parents introduced him to the water. Each summer Ethan improved, developing his unique breaststroke to the point where he could “dive like Shamu and do a great imitation of ‘Jaws’”. Over the years Ethan’s right leg gradually grew into such a bent degree that he made the decision to have it amputated and replaced with a prosthetic. Though he is now able to walk and play hide and seek with his friends, swimming has become difficult with the use of only one leg.
Ethan is asking for a special leg, designed to help him propel himself through the water, so that he can again swim laps, where he “feels the most free”.
JONAH
…When Jonah was born, he had no forehead. His hands were webbed. His jaw retracted into his mouth. His legs were awkwardly bent backward, his clubbed feet touching his chin. He weighed just a little over four pounds. The doctors offered little hope and gave Jonah only six months to live.
“They said he’d be blind, retarded and deaf,” his mother recalled. “I told them, ‘if he’s only going to live six months, then it’d be the best six months any kid would ever live. But if he was going to live a lifetime, then the choices I made today would need to prepare and benefit him for tomorrow.’”
Jonah’s mother then made the decision to have her sons twisted legs amputated, knowing that if he was going to sit in a wheelchair he needed to do it “like a human being”. The doctors granted the request and fitted Jonah with prosthetic legs. The doctors said he would probably never be able to walk. It took him only a few weeks to prove them wrong.
Today this seven year old is doing more than just walking. He’s skiing – upright. He speaks some Spanish, knows a bit of French and wants to be a policeman when he grows up, catching bad guys and throwing them in jail.
Now Jonah wants to run. He’s asking for a set of running legs along with some funds to travel to the Disabled Sports USA Regional Ski Competition.