CycleAbility Challenge fundraiser to purchase adaptive cycles for thos who need them

Childhood and cycling go together like peanut butter and jam, don’t they? It’s practically a rite of passage when kids get their first bicycle — it’s hard to imagine any young person going without.

But there are plenty of kids right here in Nova Scotia that do. Not out of a lack of desire, but rather because they live with a disability or injury that makes riding your typical two-wheeler impossible.

Joseph Robichaud was once such a lad. He lost his left leg to osteosarcoma in 1963, when radiotherapy and chemotherapy weren’t options for treating the cancer.

“Fast-forward 52 years, and I’m still here — no recurrence of cancer,” says Robichaud, a professional photographer. “[But] I haven’t cycled in 52 years.”

Today, kids incapable of riding a regular bike are luckier than Robichaud was, because adaptive bicycles exist, with various different makes and models to accommodate different types of disabilities.

“If a child is not able to use their legs, they’re going to use their arms. There are some adaptive cycles meant for leg propulsion, as well,” says Robichaud. “Whatever way they’re adaptive, it allows them the freedom to do what they want to do, without being restricted with a wheelchair or an artificial limb. They’re simply being kids.”

“We actually have an adaptive equipment loan program here at the IWK,” says Andrea Waters, a recreation therapist with the IWK Health Centre, who says families can borrow these bikes for several weeks. “But when it comes time for the kids to have their own bike, that’s where we often are faced with challenges.”

That’s because adaptive cycles aren’t cheap. The cost can range anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the specialized needs of the rider. That can be a hefty tab for families to pick up, when they factor in the equipment and care their child needs on a daily basis.

“With how much it costs for some of these adaptive pieces of equipment, families often don’t even consider it an option,” says Elizabeth LeClair, the manager of annual giving at the IWK Foundation, the hospital’s fundraising arm. “They’re so focused on primarily acquiring funding or the ability to pay for just regular gear, like wheelchairs or braces.”

“There’s so many other things that end up coming first before the recreational part does,” says Pamela Little, a Halifax mother who recently took part in the bike loan program. Her two-year-old son Elliot was born with cerebral palsy, and needs special ankle braces and a walker to get around and develop properly. “When looking at all the other things that are required, they come first.”

Robichaud wants to give kids like Elliot a better chance at fun and fitness than he had as a kid, which is why he’s getting the wheels turning on a new fundraising project called the CycleAbility Challenge.

“It’s a fundraiser to purchase adaptive cycles for children with disabilities,” says Robichaud. “I chose the word ‘challenge’ because it’s going to be a challenge. Children with disabilities have challenges every day…we’re challenging bicycle shops, bicycle clubs, the corporate sector — anyone who wants to create a challenge – we ask that you support this.”

The CycleAbility Challenge is a province-wide fundraising campaign. Robichaud started out aiming at the local cycle shops (who, he says, are all on-board) and encouraging them to create cycling events around it. But the challenge is designed it to give donors and fundraisers the chance to decide for themselves how to raise the money, and have fun doing so.

“Create an event within your own industry,” says Robichaud. “There’s no limit to what people can do in terms of planning an event.”

The money raised will go directly to the IWK Foundation, who will work with the hospital to identify children in the province in need of an adaptive bike of their own, and provide as many as possible.

“Having funders come forward through donations would just have such an impact on kids from all around the province,” says Waters, who says the demand for these bikes among IWK patients is very high. “It would be extraordinarily helpful for the families that we work with.”

“I think it’s a great thing, to try and fundraise money for these kids, for these kids to be able to have their own bikes,” says Little, who says Elliot loved riding the loaner bike. “It would be wonderful to have a bike for him – it would be one less thing that we would have to figure out how to do on our own.”

There’s lots of time to get involved — the CycleAbility Challenge runs until the end of June, and Robichaud is considering even extending it beyond that.

“Depending on the success of this — and I have got a good feeling that it’s going to be successful — it will become an annual event,” says Robichaud, who plans to buy an adaptive bike for himself, and is excited to ride again for the first time in decades. “Why stop it?”

To get involved, you can reach out to the IWK Foundation at iwkfoundation.org, or call their toll-free number, 1-800-595-2266. You can also follow the CycleAbility Challenge on Facebook: http://herald.ca/Ynk