Teenage wrestler to carry brother with cerebral palsy 40 miles to raise awareness
Talk about a literal show of support.
Seven-year-old Braden Gandee was born with cerebral palsy and can't move around without the aid of a walker. Luckily, he's got an older brother, Hunter, who's got his back.
The 14-year-old wrestler from Michigan has decided he's going to carry Braden 40 miles -- on his back -- in order to raise cerebral palsy awareness.
The two-day walk, which kicks off on June 7, begins at the wrestling room of Bedford Junior High in the Gandees' hometown of Temperance and ends at the University of Michigan's Bahna Wrestling Center in Ann Arbor.
Hunter said he hopes the long walk will "inspire future engineers, therapists and students in the medical field to develop ideas for mobility aides and medical procedures for those with cerebral palsy along the way," according to MLive.com.
The Grandees have launched a social media effort to bring attention to their Cerebral Palsy Awareness Project, calling themselves the Cerebral Palsy Swaggers and establishing a presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Their widespread efforts have caught the attention of citizens and celebrities alike. Megadeth's Dave Mustaine has offered to donate $100 for every mile walked:
I'll donate $100 for ea. mile Hunter does, & am asking Megadeth fans to follow @The_CP_Swagger & this heroic event. http://t.co/PVVkWDxC0o
— Dave Mustaine (@DaveMustaine) May 21, 2014
And FOX Toledo reports the Detroit Tigers have invited Hunter and Braden to be their guests at a game in mid-June.
While the Gandees have said this event was supposed to be awareness-raising rather than fund-raising, any money donated will benefit cerebral palsy research at the University of Michigan.
H/t Yahoo Sports.
