Meet Connor

One Year and Over 100 Therapy Sessions Later, Connor has Come a Long Way

Connor is a different person when he is on his bike.

When Connor stopped riding his bike, his parents knew something was seriously wrong: "There is something wrong with my bike! It keeps going crazy", he said.

He had just mastered his two-wheeler the year before and loved to ride around on his bike. His family had been noticing him falling down more often and while at the doctor's office (removing stitches in his forehead from a recent fall) they expressed their growing concerns to the doctor.

In 2014, an MRI revealed that Conner had a brain tumor. Three days later he was admitted to Nationwide Children's Hospital and underwent a 12 hour procedure to remove the tumor. Connor spent four weeks in the rehabilitation unit learning how to do just about everything all over again.

During those four weeks, Connor began to wonder if he would ever be the boy he used to be and started to get discouraged. He decided that one of his biggest goals was to learn to ride his bike again and stared to use an adaptive bike as part of his rehabilitation. One year and over 100 therapy sessions later, Connor has come a long way. Due to some residual ataxia from the tumor and surgery, returning to his old bike posed a bit of a challenge.

Connor's mom reached out to Christopher's Promise hoping we might be able to help her son regain some of that lost independence. She told us that Connor is a different person when he is on his bike. He feels strong, fast, independent, and limitless. Connor needed a bike that was safe for him to ride and that would grow with him over the next several years.

Luckily we have some amazing partners! The minute the Columbus Firefighters Foundation heard Connor's story they wanted to help and a plan was hatched. Connor's family planned to bring some homemade cookies to the firefighters at Station 33 and to take a tour, but little did he know that we had other things in store for him. A brand new bike!