Earlier this week, brother duo Braden
and Hunter Gandee completed a 40 mile walk in the hopes of raising
cerebral palsy awareness. Braden, who is seven years old, has
cerebral palsy; Hunter, 14, carried him on his back the entire 40
miles.
They left from Bedford Junior High
School in Temperance, Michigan on June 7th and, after an
overnight stop, arrived at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Of course, the brothers were joined by a slew of supportive friends
and family.
The walk was dubbed the Cerebral Palsy
Swagger and was solely for the purpose of raising awareness about
cerebral palsy and putting a face to the condition. However, that
hasn't stopped people from showing their financial support on top of
everything else. The Gandees have asked those who want to donate to
go to the University of Michigan Cerebral Palsy Research Program.
“We've gotten contacted by the lead
singer of Megadeath, and he's supporting us and donating,” says
Hunter, who decided to put on the walk to show the next generation
of researchers, engineers, and leaders that there is a need for
progress regarding medical procedures and mobility devices. “We've
gotten contacted by the Detroit Tigers, and they're on board and
supporting us. Whole bunches of different people.”
Braden cannot walk on his own and
usually gets around with a power chair, braces, or a walker. Last
weekend, however, the 50-pound boy got a different view strapped to
his brother's back. To help prepare for the trek, Hunter stayed
active and lifted weights. But Braden also served as a huge source of
strength.
“Whenever I'm going through something
that's difficult and doing something that's hard, I see him and how
he worked through it, and it just kind of pushes me through,” he
says.
As for Braden, he knew he and Hunter
would have no problems:
“My brother is awesome.”
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