Andrew Cochran, 9, of Battle Mountain, has been waiting to get a special bike, and he finally received it. With his twin brother Alexzander as co-pilot, they rode up the street in a new blue and yellow “Duet” adaptive bike, thanks to members of the community, friendship.org and The Great Bike Giveaway.
Sara Cochran, Nichole Vierra, Kristi Zacharias and Leesa Marine worked with Friendship Circle, an organization that works with adaptive bike companies from around the world to provide bikes to children and teens with special needs.
The community helped Andrew meet the goal of $4,670 at a fundraiser in March, and $1,345 was raised over that amount which will go toward the Friends of Rachel anti-bullying program for Battle Mountain.
Battle Mountain residents Mark Durham, Hannah Stewart, Dillon Kingsbury and Zach Cooney assembled the bike and brought it to Andrew, who was overjoyed to take his first ride in it. Durham explained the accessories and operation of the bike, which is big enough for Andrew to grow into, and doubles as a wheelchair, he said.
Sara Cochran said, “People in town will be glad to see him on this bike, because I’ve had so many people ask if it’s here yet. I’d like to say thank you to our community here for making something like this possible for two amazing little boys. So many people helped in different ways – from baking goods for the silent auction to gift certificates as prizes for the bingo to cash donations – and once the bike was here, some amazing people put it together. I love that. We can’t wait for everyone to see us riding around. This bike is going to bring us good memories. Thank you to everyone.”
