NEW ORLEANS -- Bower Lyman, 5, has been challenged from the moment he was born at eight weeks premature.
He came down with a serious infection while in neonatal intensive care. At one point he stopped breathing and developed cerebral palsy, brain damage from a lack of blood flow to his brain.
He doesn't have the ability to walk, talk or feed himself. And yet his mom and dad say he radiates pure joy.
“He's one of the happiest kids I know,” said his father, Chris Lyman. “He laughs, he smiles. Just last night he woke up giggling in the middle of the night.”
Chris Lyman said his son's contagious, joyful spirit led to an amazing bike ride that he began in late July. Lyman is riding his bike 2,100 miles from Bar Harbor, Maine to Jacksonville, Florida along the Atlantic Coast.
The goal? To send a message to other families with kids who have special needs.
“That they can still do big things and still do good things and still have adventures and journeys and that their children can be a part of that,” Chris said.
And Lyman's long, arduous ride is also a drive to raise money to fight cerebral palsy. So far he's raised about $20,000. All of the money goes to research.
His wife, Jennifer, and Bower have been his support team.
“My wife and Bower generally ride ahead, whether that be 50, 75 or 100 miles, and I'll ride to them. We'll spend the night together,” Chris said.
You can check out a blog they've been writing about their trip at cycle4cp.blogspot.com.
Chris said they have seen amazing sights and have discovered something special about people.
“Just the number of people who've gotten behind the cause and contacted us has been a great surprise and very uplifting,” Chris said.
The theme of black and gold with fleur de lis is the Lymans' way of saying this is also a journey home after the bike ride to New Orleans.
This New Orleanian, who graduated from Newman and Tulane Law School, left town for a job, and now he finally has a job that's bringing him home.
“We miss a lot of things about New Orleans, but mostly it's the people and the great character of the people,” Chris said. “Of course the art and the architecture and the music are all icing on the cake.”
But right now this is what fuels him. Chris said he saw how driven his son was to learn to ride this tricycle. It inspired him to ride down the Atlantic seaboard.
If you would like to find out more about Lyman's journey, click here.
