Cassidy in the ride of her life
Amateur cyclist will tow 11-year-old, who is wheelchair-bound, in a buggy in Cape Town Cycle Tour
SHENEVERthought she would be able to complete the Cape Town Cycle Tour. Now, a girl with spinal bifida will have her dream realised with the help of an amateur cyclist. Cassidy Bailey, 11, from Primrose Park, will be riding the Cycle Tour next Sunday thanks to Graeme Colman, 28.
Known as Team Sassy, the pair will tackle the 109km stretch by means of a buggy attached to Colman’s bicycle.
The duo will be one of seven buggy teams entered into the race by the Chaeli Campaign – a charity organisation that aims to mobilise the minds and bodies of children with disabilities.
Completing the Cycle Tour is one of the many dreams Cassidy hopes to make a reality.
Cassidy’s mother Esmeralda Bailey, a butcher’s assistant at a supermarket, said her daughter has a “larger than life personality”, and a passion for dance despite the fact that she has no feeling from her knees down.
The Vista Nova pupil does not let her illness keep her from her favourite activities, and has been doing ballroom and Latin dancing through the Chaeli Campaign for three years.
Bailey said: “She has been dancing and competing for three years and has won 56 trophies.
“Cassidy has also recently started doing bellydancing in Goodwood on Saturdays.”
Cassidy was born with a severe form of spinal bifida, rendering her with limited feeling in her legs.
Her condition means she is prone to hydrocephalus – having excessive fluid in the brain requiring regular drainage by means of ventriculoperitoneal shunting.
In addition, Cassidy is paralysed from her knees down and makes use of a hearing aid as she is deaf in her right ear.
Bailey said: “2011 was the most challenging year for us as Cassidy was in hospital for 11 months.
“In one month she had eight brain surgeries and was in ICU for four-and-a-half months. Doctors told me to start preparing myself, they had given up hope.
“I have never given up hope in my daughter, even though it’s challenging being in our position. My husband and I work extremely hard to help and care for our daughter,” she said.
Colman, of Rondebosch, has been cycling for the Chaeli Campaign since 2008 when his good friend, Juan Cilliers, became paralysed and wheelchair-bound after a car crash.
He previously completed a 48-hour ride winning R18 000 for charity.
“One cannot replicate the feeling of making someone else’s day.”
In preparation for the strenuous cycle race, he has resorted to bulking up in preparation of the extra weight he has to tow.
“I have about 10 to 12 training sessions, six days a week of about an hour and a half.
“I do strengthening exercises and work on my legs especially.”
Colman said he was inspired by Cassidy’s “full-of-life demeanour”, a trait he says the two have in common.
“I have a passion for helping others and would like to put a smile on Cassidy’s face.”