IONIA COUNTY, Mich. (WLNS) — A 6-year-old girl from Ionia County is hoping to get a brand new bike.
But this isn’t your typical two-wheeler. And you can help make it a reality.
Trisha and Michael Bolthouse are the parents of three little girls. One of their favorite things to do as a family is going on bike rides. However, they aren’t able to go as a family anymore, because their daughter no longer fits in her bike trailer.
Eliana is a kindergartner at Oakwood Elementary School in Portland. She is like every other child, she likes to swim, dance, play, and spend time with her little sisters.
However, she was born with an extremely rare brain malformation called Lissencephaly.
“Because of that, she’s cognitively and developmentally delayed. Lissencephaly is extremely rare. Only 1 of 100,000 kids gets diagnosed with it, and within that group, 80% of those kids tends to have a genetic factor. For Eliana, it was considered environmental. So, she’s the rare among the rare,” said Trisha Bolthouse said, Elina’s mother.
Eliana also enjoys going on bike rides, but outgrowing her bike trailer has resulted in her missing out on them.
“We love riding all the bike trails in Michigan. In the past we’ve used just a tag-a-long bike trailer, but now that Eliana is getting so big, are you so big? So big! You don’t fit in that bike trailer anymore,” Trisha Bolthouse said.
Trisha Bolthouse said after doing research, the only suitable bikes for Eliana are about $9,000. That’s when she found the Great Bike Giveaway through the Friendship Circle, a nonprofit that gives people like Eliana the chance to win an adaptive bike.
“When you’re raising a kid with special needs, sometimes doing normal, everyday family things is hard. Not only would having this bike we something fun for Eliana to do, it would also provide us with a fun thing the whole family can do together,” Trisha Bolthouse said.
You can vote for Eliana and help her get that new bike by clicking here.
