When I lost the use of my legs, I thought I had also lost the wilderness in my life. With a concentrated effort of creativity and flexibility, along with a good dose of humility, I found my way back into camping again. After years of experimentation and adaptation…
Carly Pearson: 100 Kilometers of Spain’s Camino
Carly Pearson says she’s the kind of person who “tries always to see the glass as overflowing.” So, when she told the GRIT team she was planning to take her Freedom Chair on a 100-kilometer trek through Spain’s Camino de Santiago…
Rider Spotlight: Vicki and Kennedy
We’re thrilled to highlight Vicki (the rider) and Kennedy (her wife), out of Washington State. Vicki has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) and uses her Freedom Chair to carve her way through the gravel, the mud, the beach sand, and whatever else Washington puts in her path.
Rider Spotlight: Nate and Bekah
Bekah and Nate use the Freedom Chair as an everyday chair and often share photos of their adventures through muddy forests, busy bowling alleys, hilly cemeteries…and the occasional indulgence at the local ice cream shop.
Rider Spotlight: Hailey K.
As Hailey Kinter shares about her life, she is both spirited and calming. Documenting and posting much of her personal journey online and through social media, she is an advocate for medical care, disability rights, and yoga for all bodies.
Trandon Mechling: Spartan, GRIT Athlete
When two mud-covered military veterans finished their Spartan Race and saw Trandon watching from the sidelines, they turned and headed toward him. One removed the Spartan finisher medal from around his neck and handed it to Trandon. “Keep this,” Lopez told him, “but I want you to do a Spartan Race with us.”
Getting to Know My GRIT Freedom Chair
I was now ready to take the GRIT Freedom Chair off the path. A local farmer just down the road from my neighborhood planted about 300 acres of sunflowers this fall. I am an amateur photographer and was naturally drawn to them…
What Freedom Means to Me
I can tell you, over the past 15 years I have often felt as though I am under physical restraint due to my everyday wheelchair. It does not allow me to get to far off road or to get across a gravel driveway with ease. Thankfully, that all changed when I got my GRIT Freedom Chair.
Adaptive Hunting with Ty Hockett
In 2009, Ty was in a truck that hit a rough patch of dirt and rolled three times, ejecting him 25 feet into the air. Ty sustained a severe spinal cord injury and was diagnosed as a C5 quadriplegic. Even after leaving Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, his life as a hunter and outdoorsman seemed to be in jeopardy.