Wheel, walk or run on June 11 Wheels in Motion to aid local girl

On Sunday, June 11th, people of all ages and abilities from Halton Hills are invited to wheel, walk or run to raise funds and awareness to improve the quality of life of men, women and children with a spinal cord injury (SCI) at the fourth annual Wheels In Motion event, presented by Scotiabank. "Bring your friends, family and co-workers," says Bill Leslie, co-chair of the first annual Halton Hills event, and member of Halton Hills Accessibility Advisory committee. "Every Canadian can help make a difference by getting involved in a Wheels In Motion event in their community. It's a great way to support a valuable cause, meet new people and have fun!" "We are all capable of extraordinary things, of reaching out and supporting one another," says Rick Hansen, CEO and president of the Rick Hansen Man In Motion Foundation. "We've come a long way towards improving the lives of people with spinal cord injury. We want to make a difference by removing barriers and supporting programs that will help improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injury." Eighty cents of every dollar raised provides support for quality of life projects including education and skill development, sport and leisure, assistive devices, accessibility, awareness and peer support programs, research and integration back into the community after an injury. Forty per cent of the funds raised here will be directed to the Bethany Winter, a 10year-old local girl with occipital encephalocele, a congenital neurological disorder. Her family will use the money to make her home wheelchair accessible. The funds directed towards research support the development of a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Registry. The Registry is an invaluable research tool that tracks, stores and relates information about clinical treatments provided to people with SCI. This information can be used by researchers and clinicians to better understand the impact and effectiveness of specific medical interventions over the course of a person's lifetime. As the Registry grows, the data collected will help to establish and validate best practices that will ultimately provide better outcomes for people today and lead to a cure for SCI in the future.