Clover Cheney gets a bike

Clover Cheney is a very fun and adventurous seven-year-old who recently received a special bicycle through a fundraiser for children with special needs.

Her mother, Jennifer, explained that Clover was born with a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi Syndrome.

She said, "It's caused by a missing 15th chromosome. It causes disruption in the brain's hypothalamus, which helps keep the body in balance and working as it should. When the hypothalamus isn't working right, the rest of the body is off and struggles to work as it should. Some of the effects it causes are really low muscle tone and weakness, trouble with balance and coordination, developmental delays, breathing difficulties, and sleep disturbances."

Jennifer said that she tried to help Clover be active with a regular bicycle, but Clover had difficulty with it.

"We tried a typical bike with training wheels and it did not provide enough support for her. She was never able to sit on it safely and try to balance it, sit on the seat, pedal and steer all safely. Even though it had the training wheels, it was not supportive. And we wanted to give her an adaptive bike, but they're very expensive. They are over $2,000 and insurance doesn't pay for them," said Jennifer.

One day Jennifer happened to see a post on the internet about The Great Bike Giveaway. She found out that they try to help kids with special needs to get a bike.

"I remember the registration was due the next day, so I didn't have time to think about it. I registered Clover. They do a couple of giveaways where they actually just give a couple of kids a bike and they also provide a platform where you can fundraise to try to get a bike."

Clover's mother learned that the Great Bike Giveaway's platform is different from others. She said. She said, "You can fundraise for a specific child and if that child gets more donations than they need for the bike then they spread those funds out to the other fundraisers. And they also allow for a discount for the bike. If you buy the bike directly from the company, it would cost more than $2,000 but though the fundraiser costs $1,800. We raised about $1,000. Just from donations from friends and family. The Great Bike Giveaway with the extra funds they have, they actually provided us with the rest. So, they donated almost $900. It was amazing! We were just planning on paying that difference just so we could make sure she got the bike. But we were really surprised when we saw how much they helped with us."

Now that they received Clover's bike, it works much better for her. The bike has a bigger seat and back support. Clover can sit back and not have to balance so much on the seat. It has different pedals that allow her feet to be strapped in, which makes it easier for her to pedal so her feet are not slipping off the pedals. It allows her to be much more stable on the bike. Clover doesn't have to figure out so many things at once, like balancing, steering, pedaling, all those things all at once. It allows her to be more steady on the bike and safe. 

Jennifer and Clover are quite happy. Her mom said, "Clover is a total joy. To know her is to love her. Anyone who knows her and is in her life just falls in love with her. She is so brave. She has been through a lot. Hundreds of doctor appointments and specialty visits. She does it all pretty much with a smile on her face."