Chieftain photo/John Jaques Ryan Rush-Miller, 11 (standing), and his younger brother, Garrett, 8, inspect a Bike E Recumbent 27-speed tandem bike at Vance's Bicycle World. The Rush-Miller Foundation is providing two tandems for blind children in Kenya and Maui.

Local family gives blind kids ray of hope

By GAYLE PEREZ
The Pueblo Chieftain

When Eric Rush-Miller saw how a new tandem bicycle brought his blind son out of darkness, he knew that was something he wanted other blind children to experience as well.

"The idea of a tandem bicycle was the light that brought him back," Rush-Miller said Tuesday, recalling the experience he shared with his now 8-year-old son, Garrett.

Nearly 2 years ago, Garrett had a malignant brain tumor removed that left him legally blind.

An energetic bike rider before his diagnosis, Garrett came home from the hospital after surgery depressed that he was no longer able to do many of the things he had done before because he was blind.

That's when Rush-Miller heard about using a tandem bike for blind riders and inquired about getting one for his son.

The bike offers Garrett the experience of bike riding while pedaling behind another rider, usually his father or older brother, Ryan.

"When I saw how it changed him, I knew that this was something I wanted other children and their parents to experience," Rush-Miller said.

So 1 years ago, Rush-Miller and his wife, Nancy, established the Rush-Miller Foundation whose aim is to help provide tandem bikes to other blind children throughout the world.

"Since we started the foundation, we have gone from coast-to-coast and to Hawaii to deliver bikes to blind children," Rush-Miller said.

And each time, the response has been overwhelming.

"This it not just a heap of metal, it's magical," he said, pointing to the tandem bike. "This just brings out something in the children. In the past year and a half, I have seen the scene repeated and repeated again.

On Tuesday, the couple and their four children showed off two more tandem bikes the foundation purchased from Vance's Bicycle World. These tandems will be sent to children in Maui, Hawaii, and Kenya.

The bikes - a Bike E which retails at $2,500 and a KHS Inc. that sells for $750 - were given to the Rush-Miller Foundation at a discount price by shop owner Vance Hubersberger.

The Bike E, which offers specially designed back rest, will be given to an autistic blind child.

"We found that not everybody was like Garrett and could ride a bike," Rush-Miller said. "We didn't want to exclude anyone. We know that parents of special-needs children can't afford these kinds of things and we wanted to make sure they don't go without."

Hubersberger said he was pleased to be involved in the project and hopes to continue his relationship with the foundation.

"When I heard about what Eric was doing, I was glad to be a part of it," Hubersberger said. "I think it's such a cool idea. I know if I lost my eyesight and couldn't ride a bike any more I'd be pretty devastated. I think this is great that they are putting (blind) kids back on bikes."

In the past 18-months, the Rush-Miller Foundation has given 33 bikes to blind children in 10 states as well as Canada and Kenya.

Most of the recipients have learned about the foundation through its Web site or other organizations' Web sites that work with the blind.

Rush-Miller said it is the generous donors and numerous sponsors that have helped make the project possible.

Most recently, the foundation was awarded a three-year grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Founded in 1997 by Armstrong, a cancer survivor and champion cyclist, the Lance Armstrong Foundation is designed to enhance the quality of life for those living with, through and beyond cancer.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation grant allows for the Rush-Miller Foundation to purchase three tandem bikes each year for three years. Those bicycles recently have been given to twin brothers in Grand Junction and a young girl in Indianapolis, Ind.

"We've given out seven bikes in the past month," Rush-Miller said. "The response to this has been overwhelming. Our goal is to try and help as many kids as we can."

To qualify for a bike from the foundation, children must be visually impaired and be between the ages of 5 and 17.

For more information about the foundation or to offer a donation, contact the Rush-Miller Foundation at 416 W. 2nd Street, Pueblo, Co., 81003 or 320-2521 or visit the Web site at www.rushmillerfoundation.org