Man meets trails, beach
MUDDY CREEK TWP — Ryan Ireland has always wondered about certain things: What's it like around the bend of that hiking trail; how's the water at the beach today; what does his dad's hunting camp look like?
For many people, the answers to such questions might come easily. They just take a few moments and go see for themselves.
For Ireland, though, things have never been that simple. The 22-year-old has been paralyzed from the waist down for years.
His medical troubles began at 5 days old, when a breathing machine to which he was hooked up created a blood clot on his spine. He walked, for a time, relying on braces. But after developing scoliosis and undergoing two major back surgeries, Ireland lost too much strength and has been using a wheelchair ever since.
That wheelchair has kept Ireland more mobile than he would otherwise be, but still has its limitations: Things like sandy beaches and bumpy woodland trails aren't generally accessible to him.
At least, they didn't use to be.
That changed two weeks ago, when Ireland became the first person to win a two-week trial with a custom-made wheelchair from the Slippery Rock-based company TracFab. The company makes all-terrain wheelchairs equipped with rubber treads that allow users like Ryan to ride along hiking trails, run the bases on a ballfield, or visit the beaches of Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park — all of which Ireland did during his first week with the new chair.
“Seeing stuff I've never seen before” has been the highlight of his experience, he said.
Ireland has his sister, Kalene, and cousin, Elizabeth Lindey, to thank for the opportunity, after they organized a social media campaign to help make him TracFab's first winner in a campaign the company is calling “ShareTheChair.”
The idea, said TracFab President David Kennedy, is to help get the word out to people who might not know about the company and its products, and to give people who might otherwise not be able to afford one of the $12,000 wheelchairs a chance to try one out for themselves.When Kalene, Elizabeth and Ryan decided to make a video they weren't sure what the response would be. But just one day after Kalene posted to Facebook, their entry had more than 100 shares. Ireland's post for the contest was ultimately shared more than 500 times,“It kind of went off more than we thought it would,” his cousin said.Kalene Ireland said she's been thrilled to see her brother able to get out and enjoy exploring in a way he's never been able to before. Kalene, a former student athlete and softball player, especially enjoyed taking her brother to run the bases at the Prospect Boys and Girls Club.“I just want him to enjoy everything,” she said. “He's a 22-year-old; he should be able to do what all 22-year-olds get to do.”That outing and others have been captured on a GoPro camera that TracFab also loaned the family, so they could capture Ryan's experiences with the chair.For the people at TracFab, who said the contest is receiving interest from people across the country, the online response to Ireland's post has been amazing.“It's just really opening our eyes to how many people need something like this, but can't afford it,” Kennedy said. “It's not a luxury. It is a necessity in my opinion.”As part of the contest, the company also is offering to help families set up fundraising efforts to aid in defraying the cost of a custom-built chair. Ireland's family said they're considering taking TracFab up on that offer. But in the short term, the focus has been on helping Ryan get the most out of his two weeks with the chair.Among other things on Ireland's bucket list was visiting Moraine's disc golf course, some of his father's favorite fishing and hunting spots, and enjoying exploring some of the farmland that surrounds the family's home just outside Portersville.For Ireland's parents, Valerie and Scott, the chance to see Ryan experience the outdoors in a way he's never before been able to has been powerful.“It's phenomenal,” said Scott Ireland. “I grew up camping and fishing and hunting and everything. So for him to have a chance to get out and see things he's never seen: It's amazing.”Valerie Ireland said that as Ryan participated in family activities that ranged from backyard wiffle ball to ATV trail riding with relatives, she saw the new experiences spark a level of excitement in her son that never seemed to ebb.“It stayed with him pretty much the whole time,” she said. “The opportunity that the company gave him, it was awesome.”
