“๐‘ฐ ๐’˜๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’”๐’‰๐’‚๐’“๐’† ๐’‰๐’๐’˜ ๐’Ž๐’–๐’„๐’‰ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’๐’†๐’˜ ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’†๐’๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’Š๐’“ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’” ๐’Ž๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’• ๐’•๐’ ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’”๐’‚๐’š ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’Œ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’•๐’ ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“๐’š๐’๐’๐’† ๐’‚๐’• ๐‘ป๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’”๐’๐’ ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Š๐’• ๐’‘๐’๐’”๐’”๐’Š๐’ƒ๐’๐’†.”

Before I received this chair, getting around was becoming more and more exhausting. Even though I was still able to go on outings with my family, especially to our favorite theme parks, I always paid the price afterward. Walking long distances would leave me completely drained, and Iโ€™d spend a day or two recovering.
I pushed myself because I didnโ€™t want to miss out on those moments with my wife and kids, but it was taking a toll on me physically and emotionally.
One of the biggest challenges has been those long days at the theme parks. Those places hold so many of our best family memories. But with my ALS progressing, it became harder to keep up without feeling completely worn out.
By the time weโ€™d get home, Iโ€™d be exhausted and unable to do much else for a while. It was frustrating because I wanted to stay active and present for my family without constantly feeling like I was running on empty.
Since receiving my new wheelchair through Team Gleason, things have changed in ways I canโ€™t fully express.
Now, when we go to the parks or anywhere else, I can conserve my energy and enjoy our day without worrying about whether Iโ€™ll be completely wiped out afterward. I feel safer knowing Iโ€™m not at risk of falling, and Iโ€™m more confident moving through crowds or covering longer distances.

“๐‘จ๐‘ณ๐‘บ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’”๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ ๐’•๐’‚๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‘๐’Š๐’†๐’„๐’†๐’” ๐’๐’‡ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’†๐’‘๐’†๐’๐’…๐’†๐’๐’„๐’†, ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐‘ฐ ๐’„๐’๐’๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’–๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’‡๐’‚๐’„๐’† ๐’๐’†๐’˜ ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’๐’†๐’๐’ˆ๐’†๐’” ๐’‚๐’” ๐’•๐’Š๐’Ž๐’† ๐’ˆ๐’๐’†๐’” ๐’๐’. ๐‘ฉ๐’–๐’• ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’˜๐’‰๐’†๐’†๐’๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’Š๐’“ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’” ๐’‰๐’†๐’๐’‘๐’†๐’… ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’‰๐’๐’๐’… ๐’๐’๐’•๐’ ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’†๐’‘๐’†๐’๐’…๐’†๐’๐’„๐’†. ๐‘ฐ๐’•โ€™๐’” ๐’‚๐’๐’๐’๐’˜๐’†๐’… ๐’Ž๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’Œ๐’†๐’†๐’‘ ๐’…๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ๐’” ๐‘ฐ ๐’๐’๐’—๐’†, ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰๐’๐’–๐’• ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’๐’Š๐’Œ๐’† ๐‘ฐ ๐’‰๐’‚๐’—๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’„๐’‰๐’๐’๐’”๐’† ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’•๐’˜๐’†๐’†๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’†๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‘๐’‚๐’“๐’• ๐’๐’‡ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’Ž๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’๐’• ๐’๐’“ ๐’‘๐’“๐’๐’•๐’†๐’„๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’‰๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’‰.”

The best part is that I can stay right there with my family, making memories, without paying such a high physical price. I can enjoy our time together without holding back or worrying about how much energy Iโ€™m spending just getting from place to place.

๐‘ป๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐‘ฎ๐’๐’†๐’‚๐’”๐’๐’, ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’Œ๐’Š๐’๐’…๐’๐’†๐’”๐’” ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’”๐’–๐’‘๐’‘๐’๐’“๐’• ๐’‰๐’‚๐’—๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’–๐’๐’š ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’…๐’† ๐’‚ ๐’…๐’Š๐’‡๐’‡๐’†๐’“๐’†๐’๐’„๐’† ๐’Š๐’ ๐’Ž๐’š ๐’๐’Š๐’‡๐’†. ๐‘ฐโ€™๐’Ž ๐’”๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’“๐’‚๐’•๐’†๐’‡๐’–๐’ ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’” ๐’ˆ๐’Š๐’‡๐’• ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’‡๐’๐’“ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’„๐’† ๐’•๐’ ๐’Œ๐’†๐’†๐’‘ ๐’๐’Š๐’—๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’‡๐’–๐’๐’๐’š ๐’‚๐’๐’… ๐’„๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’”๐’‘๐’†๐’„๐’Š๐’‚๐’ ๐’Ž๐’†๐’Ž๐’๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’” ๐’˜๐’Š๐’•๐’‰ ๐’•๐’‰๐’† ๐’‘๐’†๐’๐’‘๐’๐’† ๐‘ฐ ๐’๐’๐’—๐’† ๐’Ž๐’๐’”๐’•.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Richard A., Lake Alfred, FL