So full of Life...this beautiful, fun-loving, spirited young woman, mother, wife, daughter and sister needs our help. My name is Carla and my husband Paul and I are pedaling for a purpose. Jacquie is our purpose. Jacquie is the sister of our daughter-in-law Christina. In October 2022 at the age of 38, she suffered a severe stroke of unknown origin. She has been fighting every day since to come back to her children and family. Jacquie is now in a Locked-in-Syndrome. https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/locked-in-syndrome/

Locked-in syndrome is a rare nervous system disorder. People with locked-in syndrome are: Paralyzed except for the muscles that control eye movement. Conscious (aware) and can think and reason, but cannot move or speak; although they may be able to communicate with blinking eye movements.

We want to give Jacquie every chance to communicate and come home.

We will be riding in the 50th Anniversary Ragbrai in July 2023 (https://ragbrai.com). We are registered to ride the 3rd and 4th leg of the ride across Iowa for 136 miles. We have worked up to riding 500 miles during the week so we will do all we can to pedal more miles for Jacquie.

While we continue to hope and pray for a miracle, the reality is that Jacquie needs several resources so she can come home to her family. Resources that are both necessary for her recovery as well as a means to communicate and keep her body strong. After multiple attempts, the insurance company has denied some of these resources. So we plan to pedal toward the purchase of a specialty chair so Jacquie can sit up, an eye-tracking technology designed for Locked-in-syndrome patients to communicate with their eyes by focusing on words and pictures. Once her eye makes contact with the word or picture it registers what she is trying to communicate. Jacquie’s children and family have seen her laugh and cry, so just imagine if they could sit with her and have a conversation.

We will do the hard work and pedal, pedal, pedal. We humbly ask that you would donate toward our efforts so we can help fund Jacquie’s recovery efforts and the even harder work Jacquie has ahead of her. #jacquiestrong