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MEET 12 YEAR FARMER JOHN RAY, WHO CANNOT MOVE HANDS OR LEGS.

 JOHN RAY, THE 12 YEAR OLD BOY, WHO CANNOT WALK, YET WORKS IN HIS FATHERS FARM.






New chair brings new opportunities for local farm boy

John Ray was featured in an online video that brought almost 300,000 views

No disabilities here, only new abilities.

That’s the caption Trina Reid wrote on a video of her twelve-year-old son, John Ray, who lives with muscular dystrophy and dreams of being a farmer.

The inspiring 19-second clip, which garnered almost 300,000 views on social media, shows John pushing up feed in a very cool looking wheelchair at home on his family’s farm.

It was a special moment caught on camera; one that even a few months ago, John wouldn’t have been able to do. But thanks to a new track chair, John is one step closer to making his farming dream a reality and it’s something he’s waited his entire life for.

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.

Although no longer a couple, Trina and Donny work together caring for John and his two siblings, who split their time between their mom’s house in town and their dad’s family farm in the country.

Donny grew up on a dairy farm in Kenilworth and now drives truck, raises livestock, and grows produce for sale at his family’s on-farm store and various farmers’ markets.

It’s a lot of work, Donny said, but it’s something the whole family works together on, including John.

A lot has changed from the early days when John was a baby riding around in a tractor. Mainly, he is a lot bigger today than when he was an infant and with that arise many challenges with accessibility.

“Everything is a challenge when it comes to John,” Trina said, referring to the physical, logistical and financial costs of supporting a child with muscular dystrophy.

One of the pressing difficulties was trying to figure out a way to get John more actively involved with the farm.

Donny said in the past, they would carry John to the barn and set him on a bale where he would scoop feed for the chickens. The problem was once he was on the bale, he couldn’t move around freely.

The family didn’t want to bring John’s everyday wheelchair into the barn, so they did their best with what they had.

And then, a couple of years ago while watching a hunting show, Donny came across a different kind of wheelchair, one specifically made for all terrain.

Donny saw right away that the Action Trackchair would be perfect for John on the farm but like most adaptive equipment, it came with a hefty price tag.

“The biggest thing with it, it’s not considered a farm implement so you can’t get a farm loan for it,” Donny said.

As luck would have it, Trina eventually found a used track chair for sale in Hamilton and the family bought it.

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.

watching a hunting show, Donny came across a different kind of wheelchair, one specifically made for all terrain.

Donny saw right away that the Action Trackchair would be perfect for John on the farm but like most adaptive equipment, it came with a hefty price tag.

“The biggest thing with it, it’s not considered a farm implement so you can’t get a farm loan for it,” Donny said.

As luck would have it, Trina eventually found a used track chair for sale in Hamilton and the family bought it.

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.

In the two short months since getting his chair, John has been helping in the barn and in the fields. Just recently he assisted with potato planting by hauling loads.

“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.

John sells farm fresh meats and produce at Big John’s Country Market each week at the Mount Forest farmer’s market

“There are so many kids with disabilities who are farmers and I know the parents are wondering what they’re going to do. The lack of accessibility is so difficult,” she said.

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.

Trina said you can also purchase customized equipment for snow plowing and lawn mowing so John has hopes of starting a small business cutting grass.

“If John has taught me anything, it’s that perseverance is everything. There is nothing he says he can’t do,” Trina said

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