Eight years ago, Cynthia Noonan was
happily living an active life filled with biking, backpacking and yoga. Then,
totally out of the blue, she was struck down by transverse myelitis, a rare
inflammatory disease that made her immune system attack her own spine.
"In four hours, I went from
being fine to being a quadraplegic," she says. "When you're a very
active, fit person and suddenly lose that, it's like losing yourself. I was in
a very dark place."
Then she discovered the Bay Area
Outreach and Recreation Program – BORP, for short – a wonderful organization in
Berkeley that offers an extensive choice of adaptive recreation programs for
physically disabled or visually impaired adults and kids.
Among them: team sports like
wheelchair basketball, power soccer, goalball and team hockey; more than 80
different adaptive cycles that fit the needs of almost everyone with a
disability or vision impairment; adaptive kayaking; fitness classes featuring
body strengthening, yoga and relaxation; and excursions throughout the Bay Area
including hikes, archery trips and archery.
"It saved my life," she
says. "Everything opened up for me. It really did; I'm not being
sentimental. Before I came here I felt completely boxed in and limited. But
thanks to BORP I was out of my chair and on a bike, outside. What I thought
were my limitations didn't have to be. There were opportunities to regain the
things I thought I had lost."
She's also found mutual support
with the friends she's made at BORP.
"I met people who had been
living with disabilities and had accomplished more than I thought I could. It
also gives me a chance to mentor others as well as be mentored, and to be a
part of something bigger than myself. I never thought it would be possible for
me to ride a bike in the hills of Sonoma, but that's what I'll be doing next
month."
The event she's referring to is the
annual Revolution Ride, BORP's biggest fundraiser of the year, on Sept. 26 at
the breathtakingly beautiful Trentadue Winery in Geyserville, featuring five
fully supported S.A.G. (supplies and gear) cycling routes with distances from
five kilometers to 65 miles, followed by a sumptuous party at the winery.
If you want to register or
volunteer, go to borp.org. The registration fee is $50. In addition, adults are
asked to raise at least $400, and those under 18 are asked to raise $150.
Teams, corporate teams, and individual riders of all abilities are encouraged
to join the ride. If you don't want to ride but would still like to join the
celebration, that can be done, too, for $100.
As an added inducement, everyone
who raises over $750 will receive their choice of a gift card at Amazon or
dinner at either the Café at Chez Panisse or Comal.
And if you can't make the party but
would like to help anyway, you can donate online at borp.org or send a check
(tax-deductible, of course), to BORP, 3075 Adeline St. Suite 200, Berkeley CA
94703.
BORP serves more than 900 children
and adults in the Bay Area with a variety of disabilities, including spinal
cord injury, cerebral palsey, multiple sclerosis, spina bifeda, stroke,
traumatic brain injury, amputations, post polio, limited mobility and visual
impairments. I can't think of a worthier cause.
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