There were smiles from ear to ear and a sea of purple at the V-Linc offices today. Smiles from Desmond and Messiah getting their first ever bikes.
"How did you like it?" "It's so perfect."
Perfect because they were made just for them. Both teens have Down Syndrome.
The V-Linc program is all about using technology to help people with disabilities enjoy things many of us take for granted.
"We put flat pedals on to hold his feet on so he can't turn his feet out and give better support for the pedaling aspect of it."
"The engineers volunteer their time so kids like Desmond and Messiah can go out and ride their bikes with their friends and their schoolmates and without donors like the fraternity it wouldn't be possible."
The bikes were donated by the brothers of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
"We wanted to see if we could provide some uplift for a family who may not have access to some of the kind of amenities that other families may have and this presented an excellent opportunity for a child to have a bicycle...I can't begin to tell you how it feels to have made this kind of an impact on a child’s life, especially a child who's been diagnosed with a disability."
There's a learning curve, but they're off to a great start and their families are grateful.
"This helps with the obesity and getting him out because he can't deal with other children like he'd like to, so that's why I got the chance to take him out and let him feel himself and enjoy the air and let him be young."
