Ollie is 12 years old and is one of our five Sons, we live in East Lothian just outside of Edinburgh.
BeMoreBailey supported us in 2019 in getting a racerunning bike for Ollie which has just been incredible for him.
When Ollie was born he was very, very poorly with a Neurological condition called Hydrocephalus and due to complications with surgery, the condition itself and prolonged periods of time in hospital Ollie now also has Epilepsy, Cerebral Palsy and a Visual Impairment.
Ollie is such a character and is full of mischief at times which is great however when it came to physiotherapy sessions he would not alway be on his best behaviour and would find exercise and in particular walking frames very boring and would just sit down refusing to participate. We tried lots of different types of walking frames trying to entice him to walk with chocolate, singing, cake and so many other goodies but none were very successful for him. Ollie’s Physio suggested trying a racerunner at a local club just to see if being outdoors and being able to use the bike himself alongside other children may just be the thing to motivate him so we made the call and arranged the trial.
We all went along to the trial that evening dreading the tantrums and tears but armed with chocolate if required. It was a turning point that night and Ollie absolutely loved it and completed half the athletics track which is further than he had ever done in any walking frame. We went along every week and Ollie got more confident and loved being outside feeling the wind and sometimes the rain on his face.
During Covid lockdowns school closed and all hands on therapy and support stopped and this was so hard as daily physio is a huge part of Ollie’s routine. Having the bike meant we were able to keep him active and ensure his muscles didn’t become stiff and tight but more importantly he was outside having fun and being able to join in with his brothers.