“Our family has always loved walking-Matthew used to hit the trails with me when he was little. We wanted to try something different so we signed up with the Defiance Running Club in Wallaceburg. The running portion didn’t quite work out for us, but we all enjoyed walking with the group. We then found out about the Access Athletics Racing Team out of Sarnia that uses specialized racing chairs to assist those with disabilities in completing races. We bought Matthew his own chair and we started competing in 5k races. Matthew loves the runs and cheers on everyone by shaking a cow bell for encouragement. Even his support workers come to the races to participate and cheer him on.
Matthew gets so excited before the races and he loves to be around his teammates before and after the races, sharing in everyone’s joy. We competed in the Niagara Falls International Marathon last year and we hope to continue competing as a family for years to come.
What started out as his support workers introducing Matthew to new situations like restaurants, shopping and church services on a repetitive basis, and then introducing us into the mixture has turned into Matthew having the ability to participate in community activities with his family. Everyone always tells us how happy Matthew looks when he is running.”
-Mike, Donna and Matthew George, supported through Community Living Wallaceburg since 2008
For more information on the organization that Matthew participates in, check out Access Athletics Racing Team on Facebook and/or www.accessathletics.ca