TURLOCK, Calif. (KTXL) — A Turlock family is asking the community for support to win a new bike for their son with special needs.
Five-year-old Easton Geissler loves to go on bike rides with his family. His mother, Alexis Geissler, said it’s one of a few activities Easton can enjoy with his mental and physical disabilities.
“He loves, loves, loves, loves to be outside and to go fast,” Alexis Geissler told FOX40.
Easton was born blind with optic nerve hypoplasia, along with several other rare medical conditions.
“So we were told he would never walk or talk,” his mother explained.
But through the years, he’s learned to say a few words, clap along to music and even whistle.
And like many kids, Easton loves the wind in his hair and the feeling of a bike ride.
“That motion really makes him happy,” Alexis Geissler said. “Riding a bike for most special needs kids isn’t just for the enjoyment, it is actually therapeutic for them. Not only getting out in the fresh air but getting to be independent and feeling like a typical child.”
Geissler said her parents usually take Easton for rides because she and her husband don’t have bikes of their own.
“They’ve been sold out during COVID, and then they’re expensive. So we just haven’t been able to get one,” she said.
But now, it’s getting harder for them to take him as he’s gotten bigger.
“His legs are always cramped up, his head hits the cover,” she said. “And if we don’t keep the cover on, he can actually kick his foot out and hit the back tire of the bike. So he’s pretty crammed in there.”
“Because he has seizures and stuff, with him behind me I don’t feel comfortable,” she continued. “With him in front of me, I can see what’s going on with him.”
That’s why they’ve entered the Great Bike Giveaway. They hope to win Easton an adaptive bike that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars.
Through the contest put on by Friendship Circle — an organization that aims to provide support for people with special needs and their families — people can vote for Easton or donate to help his chances at winning a specially-made bike.
“With the bike, we just ride wherever we need to go in. It detaches and actually turns into a wheelchair,” Easton’s mom said. “So everything’s accessible for him. We can ride anywhere with him and take him with us too.”
For the Geisslers, the new bike wouldn’t just be fun for Easton, it would mean making priceless memories to last a lifetime.
“There’s a lot of what-ifs and we-don’t-knows when it comes to like his life expectancy and his development in the future and how far he’s going to come,” Alexis Geissler said. “So, we just try to enjoy the now and try to do everything with him that we can, which is why this bike is so important to us because it’s one more thing we get to do with him when we don’t know what his future holds.”
