Meet Cheryle Brandsma.
Cheryle is a part of i25 Kia Copper Triangle each year, and has been for 9 years now. She has participated alongside all of you as a rider and more recently as a volunteer. Balance issues, decreased grip strength, and rigidity are just a few obstacles that have kept her from riding up those mountain passes with all of you in recent years.
Cheryle has Parkinson’s disease.
It adds challenges to Cheryle’s daily life. Parkinson’s can make her shake, it can make her fall, and sometimes it can make her want to retreat away from supportive friends.
So each year, Cheryle writes a personal letter to friends and family to fundraise for the Davis Phinney Foundation. She wants to make a big difference for the Parkinson’s community, or her “Tribe.” She fundraises so that others who face the challenges of Parkinson’s will know that there is hope, there are daily victories and there are ways to live well with this disease even despite all of the difficult symptoms. Parkinson’s can strip people of momentum and hope, and the Davis Phinney Foundation provides these people with programs that give them the motivation and practical tools to live well again. Cheryle fundraises to spread these programs to more members of her Tribe.
i25 Kia Copper Triangle once gave Cheryle the motivation to stay active. It was her annual goal that kept her body moving; A useful goal especially for Parkinson’s, as exercise is the only current treatment that has been shown to slow the progression of the disease. After retiring from participating as a rider, the Copper Triangle is now her annual opportunity to stay engaged in her community, despite Parkinson’s best efforts to keep her isolated:
“I accept that I have and will always have this nasty, progressive disease. Physical activity gives me joy, energy, and sometimes most importantly – emotional well being. Though I do my exercise a little differently these days (boxing, riding a stationary bike and yoga), I remain engaged with the i25 Kia Copper Triangle community through my fundraising for the Davis Phinney Foundation. It gives me a meaningful platform to spread the Davis Phinney Foundation’s mission that it IS possible to live well today with this disease.”
So. Will you join Cheryle? Support her journey and her efforts to make a difference in the organization that makes a life changing impact on people living with Parkinson’s. Make a donation in her honor and in support of people with Parkinson’s around the world.
“This message is vital, and together we can help emphasize that it IS possible to live well each day with Parkinson’s!”