Hannah get adaptive equipment to ride a bike again.

Hi, my name is Alison and I am raising funds to help my friends Gaylene and Tyler give their daughter back her wheels. As a family, they have been quietly living with their story for almost two years now - a story of deep pain and tremendous resilience. At the center of this story is Hannah - a now 17 year old teenager who at 15 lost the use of her arm...and with that loss, so much of what she loved. ... Gaylene and Tyler have recently started sharing this story....

"Hannah is a wonderful human being. She is empathetic and kind and always wants to help people. She is grateful for what she has and she is determined to fulfill her life goals, wherever this path takes her.

In August 2023, at 15 years old, Hannah was in an ATV accident. She was air-ambulanced to BC Children's Hospital where she underwent CT and MRI scans to discover that she sustained a severe brachial plexus injury to her right, and dominant arm. This means that her right arm is now paralyzed, a truly life-altering injury. Immediately, Hannah had to begin learning how to be a one-handed lefty in this world, while also navigating a lot of grief and loss. She has had to return to BC Children's a number of times for specialized nerve testing and meetings with Neurosurgeons as they planned options. In December of the same year she underwent a 13 hour nerve grafting surgery in attempts to re-innervate some functional muscles to allow for some options. Nerves are incredibly slow to heal and there are still some big decisions to come in her future. Hannah is a candidate for a myo-electric arm, if that is what she chooses. I take pause here to reflect upon just how strong Hannah has been. Imagine being 15 years old, in a room with about 10 Neurosurgeons and having a conversation about amputating your arm, I'm willing to bet most have never given a thought to this type of situation, which is also a good thing! Hannah has always been an athlete. She has grown up downhill skiing, swimming, hiking, working out in the gym, mountain biking, dancing, and just playing on the monkey bars; she enjoys all of the outdoors. Her passion was gymnastics. She has trained for many years and was a competitive gymnast with our local club. Losing this was hard, but that's a whole story on its own. Hannah is an incredibly positive person. She is choosing to meet her new challenges with determination and creativity. She sees herself as an adaptive athlete and a role model for others. With the loss of gymnastics Hannah had a lot of free time, so she decided to look for a part-time job. She very quickly experienced true negativity and was told she couldn't do things and couldn't be hired, which was an answer she wasn't willing to accept. She has now worked at Mark's for 8 months. A shoutout here to Mark's, and specifically Grace, who hired Hannah because she could see her grit, determination, charisma and creative solutions rather than looking for perceived limitations due to a physical disability. In under two-years Hannah has re-learned a lot of life and is again fully-independent; maintaining her high-school classes, her job, has earned her N to drive, and isn't shying away from anything she wants to do. She is back on downhill skis, has a variety of adaptive equipment for the gym, and as the headstrong teen she is, she wants to RIDE!

Enter the awesome mountain bike community - worldwide!

Some social media research and a few zoom calls and we are going to make this happen. Dominic Eggbeer and Tom Wheeler are co-directors of Ride Adapt, based in the UK. Tom has the same injury as Hannah, and he was also determined to get back on his bike post accident. Dom is an engineer and a PhD Professor at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Through years of testing (and crashing) they have created an exo-skeleton arm brace and release system that allows riders with an upper limb impairment or paralysis to safely ride a mountain bike, in the same way that you can with two arms. Check Tom out in action, on IG he is @tomnotbroken. These two guys have lit a fire in Hannah and they are pumped to help set her up to ride again.

Now the logistics. This duo team will build Hannah an arm brace and release system. Hannah (and Tyler) will travel to England this July and spend 3 days with this team for 3D printing, having it all fitted correctly, and then test riding with Tom and a bike coach so they can teach her how it's done and make adjustments. On our local end, Hannah will also need a fully adapted bike set up as all her controls have to be moved to the left side. A shoutout to Ruckus for working with Hannah to help her set up this new, adapted system.

Hannah will be the first-ever female rider to be set up with this adaptive system, and the only person in BC. Dom and Tom are thrilled.

Adaptive equipment is very expensive. This equipment is not required for Hannah to live, but it is required for Hannah to thrive."

My invitation to you is to be part of Hannah's story. Let's help Hannah be the first FEMALE mountain bike rider to work with Ride Adapt to get back on her bike. You can help in any of the following ways:

1) share Hannah's story with your friends and family. Stories of resilience are powerful in times of struggle.

2) contribute to this gofundme. Any amount will help get Hannah on her bike.

3) go ride your bike and smile, reflect with gratitude on all the things your body can do.

In community,

Alison