John Donald Roger Ray was born on May 17, 2009, with an extremely rare type of congenital muscular dystrophy, a muscle disease caused by mutations in a person’s genes.
Diagnosed at six-weeks-old at McMaster Children’s hospital, parents Trina Reid and Donny Ray were given grim news.
“When he was born his prognosis was not good. The doctors said with a lot of love they didn’t expect him to live this long,” Trina said.
It turns out, the doctors were wrong.
According to Trina, John is currently doing well, so much so that not only is he thriving; he impresses his specialists to the point where they use him as an example for other patients.
Trina said she attributes John’s wellness to healthy eating and the active farm lifestyle he has grown up around.
“His dad and I had him in a tractor from the age of six-weeks-old. In fact, his first word was tractor,” Trina said.
Donny said without extra support from his employer Wallenstein Feed & Supply Ltd., making this purchase for John would not have been possible.
With the chair purchase settled, it was almost time to surprise John! Trina and Donny had decided to keep the chair a secret from their son until it was on the farm and ready to go.
Meanwhile, Donny wanted to build an implement in advance so when John got his new chair, he could start working in the barn right away.
“I’m fairly handy with the welder,” the farmer said. “I figure if I can’t build it, I don’t think I need it.”
Donny fashioned a metal bracket to come off the side and front of John’s chair. The bracket would hold a four-foot long, two-by-ten piece of wood, which would work nicely as a feed pusher.
The tool instantly gave John a new job to do in the barn, and that’s just the beginning.
“We planted 1,500 pounds of potatoes and hooked the wagon to the back of his chair. We just loaded it up and he pulled it down the row,” Donny said. “That’s something he’s never been able to do before. Now, he can go anywhere.”
Trina said talking about accessibility on the farm is an important conversation to have.
According to Trina, adopting a ‘think outside the box’ mindset is helpful, as is looking into the latest technology available.
In their constant efforts to include John on the farm, Trina and Donny have learned there are tractors, excavators, and skid steers that can be run with remote controls.
This means, the operator could be sitting in the machine and running it or sitting in their wheelchair and running it from a distance with the remote.
“He could go clean pens out or go get bales, but that control system is $10,000-$15,000 on top of the machine,” Donny said.
For now, the plan is to work with John’s new track chair and develop more at-home, makeshift implements.
-Ontario farmer
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