Nick's Story...

Pair helps boy chase a dream - Ohio boy enjoys flying up the street on his newly modified back, thanks to a little Leland ingenuity

By BILL O'BRIEN
Record-Eagle staff writer

      LELAND - A couple of men from Leland with a knack for the unusual have eased the heartbreak of an Ohio mother whose developmentally-disabled son couldn't go bike riding with the other kids in the neighborhood.
      After a string of disappointments trying to find a bicycle that could work for their handicapped son, the Ackerman family of Lima, Ohio, took a chance on a small, unusual bike shop in Leland they had seen before but had never visited.
      A few weeks later their 5-year-old son Nick was zooming up and down the street with the other kids on his new bike, thanks to the ingenuity of bike shop owner George Bennett and machinist Nicholas Lederle.
      The two were able to craft a unique three-wheeled cycle for Nick that his mother says has lifted her son's spirits more than she could imagine.
      "He rides it all the time," said Chris Ackerman, who with her husband Paul has vacationed in Leelanau County since the late 1980s. They purchased a seasonal home in Omena last year.
      "For him to ride fast and keep up with the other kids is just so special for him ... for George and Nicholas (Lederle) to make him this bike, it was so good for his self-esteem."
      Nick has TAR Syndrome, which stands for Thrombocytopenia-Absent Radius Syndrome. It is a rare genetic disorder affecting the formation of long bones. Nick has no arms extending from his shoulders.
      Nick used to ride around in a plastic, three-wheeled bike that his parents had modified for his use. But as he grew older his small vehicle couldn't keep up with the bikes the other kids in the neighborhood were riding, and they teased him about having "a baby-girl bike."
      His mother said it was "devastating" both for Nick and his parents, as it was the first time that his handicap had become a major impediment for him.
      "It was the first time he really used the term 'I can't' ... it broke my heart," his mother said. "It got to the point where I would just shut the drapes so he wouldn't see the other kids riding by."
      The Ackermans contacted several bicycle manufacturers to see if a bike was available that could accommodate Nick's handicap. The closest they came was a Florida company that built specialty bikes, but it told the family that they would be put on a two-year waiting list and the estimated cost for the bike was $7,000 to $10,000.
      But during their yearly vacation to Leelanau County last summer, they stopped by the unusual bike and ski shop that Bennett runs out of his home. Bennett has hundreds of bicycles at his shop - new, old, antiques, three-wheelers, recumbents and more.
      Many people around Leland recall when Bennett and Lederle several years ago crafted a two-wheeled cart for Bennett's beloved dog Casey, whose hind legs were paralyzed in a car accident. Casey was able to get around for several more years with the help of his cart.
      "We're a couple of Leland eccentrics," Bennett said. Lederle, who is also a trustee on the Leland Township Board, runs a small machine shop a few blocks away from the bike shop.
      After meeting the Ackermans, Bennett went to Lederle again for help, and again his friend came up with an idea.
      "I've built all kinds of other contraptions that people think are unusual or hard to do, but it's something that's always come kind of easily to me," Lederle said.
      Lederle hadn't met young Nick, so he had to design the bike based on photographs and measurements.
      While Nick's physical make-up had confounded other bike makers, Lederle came up with an idea within minutes.
      "It was immediately obvious to me what needed to be done," Lederle said.
      He took one of Bennett's Trailmate bikes, which are made by a company in Sarasota, Fla., and cut away part of the back of the seat and installed a rounded metal bar that's connected to a steering mechanism running to the front tire. Nick is able to steer the bike by moving his upper body left or right against the rounded metal bar, which has two small handles he's able to grab with his hands. It's also equipped with a foot brake.
      Lederle said it took about three days to put the bike together, and Nick instantly adapted to his new mode of transportation.
      "The first time he got on it he just took off," his mother said. "Now he rides it all the time ... it's been the best thing in the world to have that bike."
      Nick's had his bike for almost a year now and his mother says that, instead of teasing him, other kids beg to take turns on his bike.
      The Ackermans had always considered Leelanau County "a special place," she said. Their attachment has only grown stronger because of the help Bennett and Lederle gave Nick to accomplish things they weren't sure were possible, she said.
      "I think when your child is born with a handicap, you just think about all the things they won't be able to do," she said. "But as Nick has grown up, I don't think that way anymore. He amazes me every day."
     

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