eDragonfly Handcycle for Kelli
Donation protected
While she won’t ask for it…. Kelli Coleman-Jones needs our help!
Kel’s been an MS survivor for over 20 years now. Diagnosed in her mid 20s, she has always been a fighter (of course... she’s a Jones) and exercise has always been a key tool in combating her disease. For the 20 years she’s battled MS, cycling with KC had always been her #1 form of physical exercise. It not only provided the physical exercise her body needed but most importantly, because of the passion with which she rode and freedom she felt when riding, it helped her maintain that mental edge to keep her body going. Until a few years ago she was able to ride the roads of Illinois and enjoy the scenery…. she would tell KC it made her feel like she was free, if even for just that little while. While many of us cringed watching someone who couldn’t keep her balance while walking, strap her feet into the peddles of her bike, it was obvious that as long as her legs had the strength to propel her, she truly could ride her bike better than she could walk!
In 2013, Kel had a huge setback from an MS flare up. In the past she had always used cycling to help rebuild her physical and mental strength but this flare up was different and her legs took a really big hit. It’s been a long road to recovery and while many of the symptoms have either subsided or she’s learned to live with them, her legs can’t support cycling anymore. Through her physical therapy sessions she learned that her arms had regained enough strength and she CAN ride a handcycle!
A handcycle is a form of adaptive cycling that enables people of all abilities to ride a “bike” exclusively using the upper body, in other words Kel can use her arms rather than her legs to get back on the road with KC and feel free again. The handcycle that we want to get Kelli is called the eDragonfly Power Assist Handcycle – see link below. The power assist model allows her to flip on the motor to give her a little extra power when she’s going up hills.. or on those not so good days.
Info on eDragon handcycle: http://shop.riomobility.com/eDragonfly-Power-Assist-Handcycle-8-A.htm
And here’s a link that explains handcycling: http://www.wheelchairsportsfederation.org/adaptive-sports/handcycling
Kel’s been an MS survivor for over 20 years now. Diagnosed in her mid 20s, she has always been a fighter (of course... she’s a Jones) and exercise has always been a key tool in combating her disease. For the 20 years she’s battled MS, cycling with KC had always been her #1 form of physical exercise. It not only provided the physical exercise her body needed but most importantly, because of the passion with which she rode and freedom she felt when riding, it helped her maintain that mental edge to keep her body going. Until a few years ago she was able to ride the roads of Illinois and enjoy the scenery…. she would tell KC it made her feel like she was free, if even for just that little while. While many of us cringed watching someone who couldn’t keep her balance while walking, strap her feet into the peddles of her bike, it was obvious that as long as her legs had the strength to propel her, she truly could ride her bike better than she could walk!
In 2013, Kel had a huge setback from an MS flare up. In the past she had always used cycling to help rebuild her physical and mental strength but this flare up was different and her legs took a really big hit. It’s been a long road to recovery and while many of the symptoms have either subsided or she’s learned to live with them, her legs can’t support cycling anymore. Through her physical therapy sessions she learned that her arms had regained enough strength and she CAN ride a handcycle!
A handcycle is a form of adaptive cycling that enables people of all abilities to ride a “bike” exclusively using the upper body, in other words Kel can use her arms rather than her legs to get back on the road with KC and feel free again. The handcycle that we want to get Kelli is called the eDragonfly Power Assist Handcycle – see link below. The power assist model allows her to flip on the motor to give her a little extra power when she’s going up hills.. or on those not so good days.
Info on eDragon handcycle: http://shop.riomobility.com/eDragonfly-Power-Assist-Handcycle-8-A.htm
And here’s a link that explains handcycling: http://www.wheelchairsportsfederation.org/adaptive-sports/handcycling
Organizer
Kathy Dressel
Organizer
Elburn, IL