SLIPPERY ROCK — Although he's accomplished many amazing goals since being paralyzed in 2009 in a motorcycle accident, Dan Christiana, 26, yearns for one thing.

“To go in the woods. It's that simple,” Christiana said.

Enter the Wheels for the Woods project, which is a fundraiser to provide $10,000 to Christiana for a custom-built off-road wheelchair.

“As an ex-motocross rider, I was always in the woods,” Christiana said. “Hunting is the biggest reason I want (the off-road chair.)”

Instead of wheels, the off-road chair would have tracks similar to a those of a bulldozer. Christiana would only switch to the track chair for off-road applications.

The tracks could take Christiana onto wooded trails, to the beach and to other areas he cannot access in his existing motorized chair.

Christiana said personnel from Trac Fab, a Slippery Rock company that builds the off-road chairs, introduced him to the late Charlie Schmitz, who was the owner of WCJ Ranch in Crawford County before his recent death.

The ranch allows wounded veterans and the disabled to hunt and fish.

Schmitz took the energetic and ambitious Christiana under his wing when he learned he missed hunting.

Schmitz donated a new gun mount, an electronic trigger activated by mouth and other hunting equipment for Christiana's motorized chair.

Christiana hunted the last three seasons at Schmitz's ranch, and is dedicating his 2017 season to Schmitz.

“Charlie was one of the most honorable men I have ever met,” Christiana said. “He taught me the meaning of being a good person.”

Christiana said the ability to hunt without assistance at WCJ Ranch was “life-changing,” but he wants to go out in the woods to get his buck.

“I've gotten two doe in three years,” he said.

Since his accident, in which he landed headfirst after jumping his motocross bike nine weeks before his graduation from Slippery Rock High School, Christiana has not let any moss grow under his wheels.

He has completed three paid internships with the University of Pittsburgh and the Human Engineering Research Laboratory, attained his driver's license, and is studying special education and transitional living at Slippery Rock University.

“If you are a man and you choose to live, you should have no reason not to try until you succeed,” Christiana said on Thursday as a tattoo artist completed a large, intricate “City of Champions” tattoo on his right arm that featured the Clemente Bridge near Pittsburgh's PNC Park.

“I haven't slowed down one bit.”

He said his family and friends plus his attitude have kept him going since the accident more than eight years ago.

“Never give up, no matter what the circumstances,” Christiana said.

Christiana's father, also named Dan, said he is not surprised at the tenacity his son has shown since being paralyzed from the chest down.

“He's always been like that, even before the accident,” the senior Christiana recalled. “He's come a long way and he seems to have a good attitude in spite of (his situation.)”

The proud father thinks the residents of Butler County will respond generously to the Wheels for the Woods project.

“He's really interested in getting (the track chair) and I hope people can support him,” he said.

Ask the first thing he will do when he gets his new chair, and the younger Christiana's face lights up.

“I'd look for spots to hunt,” he said, “and get that buck.”

To donate to the Wheels for the Woods project to purchase a custom-built off-road chair for Christiana, send a check to Christiana at 116 Boozel Road, Slippery Rock, PA 16057; search “Wheels for the Woods” on Facebook; or donate to “Danny's Hope Fund” at the Slippery Rock branch of First National Bank.

“I think the people of this county will respond well since they've been very helpful thus far,” Christiana said. “The community has come out with open arms.”