Trike helps with physical issues

Gayle Bryan let out a broad smile as she sped around Aiken Electric Cooperative's community room on an adult-size recumbent tricycle provided by the AMBUCS organization.

Her feet were propped up on canvas pads as she moved the trike forward with hand pedals that turned a full 360 degrees.

Bryan is the service coordinator at Croft House, an independent-living retirement home. The facility hopes to get adaptive tricycle that a physical therapist will use for residents who have chronic physical issues.

That's something to which Bryan can relate. She has gone through three hip replacements, has a degenerative disc in her back and needs a knee replacement.

"I loved this," Bryan said of her tricycle ride at a recent meeting of the Community Services Network. "It didn't hurt anything. Our residents would benefit because it would give their arms the exercise they need."

AMBUCS is a national organization with headquarters in North Carolina, devoted to assisting children and adults with disabilities. National Director Joe Copeland brought several varieties of adult-sized tricycles to show representatives of social service agencies.

Chuck Foster of Aiken is a volunteer district director; the Aiken AMBUCS is the only full-time chapter in South Carolina, he said. The organization also provides scholarships for disabled college students, as well as students who are planning to become physical or occupational therapists.

But the organization is best known for its tricycles, which can be donated based on need or purchased at costs much lower than commercial enterprises.

The Lower Savannah Council of Government has already committed to providing Hitchcock Healthcare with an adult tricycle, and Croft House may get one, too. Hitchcock staffer Mary Kathryn Hughes works in rehabilitation services for people with strokes or other issues that cause impairment. She was delighted that Foster and other volunteers can adapt a trike to assist clients with a variety of needs related to the hand and foot controls.

Copeland discussed a young North Carolina woman named Erica with limited mobility; with a wheelchair she could manage just over two bocks from her residence.

"With her tricycle, she can get the grocery store and other stores over 12 blocks," Copeland said. "She discovered a city she had no access to before."

Connie Shade, a Council of Governments executive and AMBUCS volunteer, understands that completely. Her daughter Julie, a USC Aiken junior, has cerebral palsy and in recent years has had to move from a walker to a wheelchair.

"We bought a tricycle for Julie, and we've had to chase her down hills," Shade said with a smile. "It's been a great learning experience for all of us."

For more information about AMBUCS' Aiken chapter, call Foster at 643-0808.

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.