A Pella Middle School teacher is working to give more access to athletics for persons with disabilities.
Susan Lyons is fundraising in conjunction with Launching Arrows to provide carts to children with special needs, which allows those children to race and participate in triathlons and other athletic activities. She says this initiative is for all people with special needs in the area, but the idea came from her son Keegan, who was diagnosed at a young age with Autism and an intellectual disability. Lyons says Keegan loves to join his family for outdoor activities, but his needs limit his mobility and has required a stroller he continues to grow out of. After attending an event in Ames recently, Lyons became inspired to see what was possible locally not only for her son, but all children who may have some physical limitations.
“In the midst of looking around, I was actually watching a triathlon up in Ames where they had a young man in a raft, and three swimmers swam with him, and I was like ‘that is so cool, that this kid gets to do this,’ and he was lit up with joy. Then, he got out of the water and they carried him to this cart, and that cart was attached to a bike and a biker biked him throughout the course, and they come back to transition and that same cart was modified into a running cart and a different person ran this young man,” she says.
“I just thought that was the coolest thing that there was this group of people surrounding this one child and allowing that young man to participate in something that he wouldn’t regularly be able to do and made the sacrifices for him to do that.”
Lyons says the goal is to also raise awareness for how many kids and adults there are in the Pella area with needs and to build relationships between athletes and families.
“How many kids in our community would love to be able to run a race or participate in a triathlon who a) wouldn’t be able to afford this equipment and b) that haven’t been exposed to anything like that?” Lyons says. “My hope is to pair these children with people who are already doing those things, and so I think it’s a win-win, and we’re really looking forward to all of the families of Pella and the surrounding communities taking advantage of these carts.”
Iris Coffee Company is donating $10 for every bag of coffee sold this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at their location in the Iowa Bike Shop on Franklin Street. Hear more about this fundraiser on today’s Let’s Talk Pella.