'She can be like other kids': Wheelchair bound South Jersey girl surprised with special bike
DEPTFORD, N.J. - An adaptive bike painted in Philadelphia Flyers orange with a custom hockey stick brake was delivered to a nine-year-old in Deptford Saturday.
Raelynn Morrison, who is wheelchair bound and is living with cerebral palsy, came out of her home to see a group of family and friends, who didn’t want to miss the moment she received such a generous gift.
The nonprofit, Help Hope Live, and the Flyers Alumni Association teamed up to raise funds and order the specially designed bike.
"It’s amazing somebody would grant her this wish. It gives her a little bit of mobility. She can be like the other kids and not have to be in her wheelchair chasing along," said grandmother Regina Morrison, who is also her full-time caretaker.
"She’s never been able to ride with her sisters before so it’s going to be really nice when the girls get back here and she can ride with them," said dad Keith Morrison.
Raelynn’s family said she was born 10 weeks early and didn’t receive enough oxygen. She eventually developed epilepsy and is quadriplegic.
The adaptive bike is uniquely designed for her and costs between $5,000 and $7,000.
"Each part of the bike was built to her needs. What parts of her body need to be strengthened and how her process therapeutically will work," said Executive Director Kelly Green, of Help Hope Live. "This bike will actually grow with her. She will never need another bike. As she continues to grow, the bike will grow. It can be heightened it can be lowered. It grows with her."
Help Hope Live is a national nonprofit that has supported families facing catastrophic injuries and illnesses 40 years.
Over the last two years, the group has teamed up with the Flyers Alumni Association’s Every Kid Deserves a Bike program, which has donated over a dozen bikes to families in the Greater Philadelphia area.
"We’re all retired hockey players. Some of us have played for many different teams. Many of us live in the Philadelphia area and this is just our way of giving back to the community, giving back to the fans who cheered us on for all the years that we played for the Flyers," said Brad Marsh who played for the team between 1981 and 1988. "We like putting smiles on people’s faces and today to see the smile on Raelynn’s face was wonderful. The smile on her dad’s face, her grandparent’s face was just wonderful."
Raelynn has undergone countless surgeries and challenges. Her grandmother said doctors didn’t think she would live past the age of four.
Now her family is trying to give her the quality of life she deserves and they say the adaptive bike is an important piece of that effort.
"She’s not going to want to be off of it like ever. She’s going to want to be on that bike all the time which is fantastic," said Regina.
More information about the campaign for Raelynn at the Help Hope Live’s website.