More Than a Wheelchair: How One Adventure-Loving Family Found Their Way Back Outdoors
Quick answer
A grant from Chive Charities helped Addisyn — a young girl with complex medical needs who lights up around water, mountains, and campfires — and her family replace a worn-out jogging stroller with an Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchair, restoring their access to the beaches, lakes, and trails they love.
This is a guest post on our blog written by Chive Charities Executive Director, Brian Mercedes.
For most families, a day at the beach, a walk around a lake, or an evening around a campfire are simple pleasures. For Addisyn and her family, those moments are everything.
Known lovingly as their family’s “element girl,” Addisyn has always been happiest surrounded by nature. Whether she’s watching waves crash along the shoreline, sitting beside a mountain lake while her family fishes, or feeling a cool breeze during a camping trip, the outdoors is where she comes alive. Her smile says everything.
But getting there hasn’t always been easy.
Born with multiple complex medical conditions, including spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and one of the rarest forms of polymicrogyria, Addisyn has spent her entire life overcoming obstacles that most families never have to consider. She relies on a feeding tube, a tracheostomy, and full-time care from two parents who have devoted their lives to helping her experience as much of the world as possible.
For years, they refused to let those challenges define her childhood.
An old jogging stroller became their ticket to beaches, lakes, and trails. It wasn’t designed for rugged terrain, but they made it work because giving Addisyn access to the outdoors was worth every ounce of effort. After every beach trip, her father would even rinse the stroller with vinegar to keep the saltwater from destroying the frame.
As Addisyn grew older, so did the physical demands. Her father — a combat veteran living with his own service-connected disabilities — could no longer safely push or carry traditional mobility equipment across sand, rocks, and uneven trails. The adventures their family cherished were slowly becoming harder to reach.
That’s when Chive Charities stepped in.
Restoring Access to Adventure
Chive Charities awarded Addisyn a grant to purchase an Extreme Motus all-terrain wheelchair, giving her family something much bigger than a new piece of adaptive equipment.
It gave them their adventures back.
Unlike traditional wheelchairs that are limited to pavement and smooth sidewalks, the Extreme Motus is purpose-built for beaches, gravel paths, dirt trails, snow, grass, and other challenging terrain. Its lightweight, manually operated design allows families to explore places that once felt impossible to reach while remaining portable enough for everyday adventures.
For Addisyn, that means returning to the places where she feels most at peace — the beach, the campground, the lakeside, and the trails she loves.
For her parents, it means replacing physical limitations with new possibilities.
Sometimes the greatest gift isn’t mobility.
It’s belonging.
What Is Chive Charities?
Since 2012, Chive Charities has been dedicated to making the world 10% happier by providing life-changing grants to veterans, first responders, military families, and individuals living with rare medical conditions.
Many of the people Chive Charities serves face quality-of-life challenges that insurance simply won’t cover. Whether it’s adaptive mobility equipment, prosthetics, therapy equipment, or other essential resources, the organization exists to fill those critical gaps and help recipients regain independence and improve their quality of life.
Every grant begins with a story, and every story is powered by a community of donors who believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to live life as fully as possible. Learn more about Chive Charities at chivecharities.org.
A Shared Mission
Organizations like Extreme Motus and Chive Charities share a common belief: disability should never mean the end of adventure.
While Chive Charities works to fund life-changing equipment for recipients across the country, Extreme Motus designs equipment that makes those dreams possible. Together, they help families spend less time thinking about limitations and more time making memories.
For Addisyn, that means feeling the ocean breeze again, sitting beside the water with her family, and exploring the outdoors she has loved since she was a little girl.
Because sometimes freedom doesn’t come from going farther.
It comes from finally being able to go where your heart has always wanted to be.
Know a family whose Extreme Motus story we should tell? Email ryan@extrememotus.com — we love sharing stories like Addisyn’s.
Since 2019, Sam and Ryan have been demonstrating that nature is wheelchair accessible with the Extreme Motus All Terrain Wheelchair. From National Parks to Skateparks, their adventures prove that a manual off-road wheelchair can offer laughter and joy while navigating diverse terrains.
Join us as we continue to share these inspiring journeys.
Light, comfortable, and compact, the Extreme Motus glides over sand, rocks, grass, gravel, and even floats in water.
It’s more than a outdoor wheelchair; it’s your ticket to freedom. Embrace the outdoors with confidence, knowing our off-road wheelchair is engineered for durability and ease of use.
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