Generous BMX-ers donate bike to Telford girl

Trinity Russell from Stirchley won the hearts of Wrekin Riders BMX Race Club coach and chairman Kieran Edwards when he saw her beaming smile on a social media video.

She was riding a special trike but then Mr Edwards saw Trinity’s dad Ian commenting that it cost £1,500 and they wouldn’t be able to get it for her yet.

Mr Edwards launched a fundraising drive and sourced the same bike at a third of the price and surprised the Russell family with the bike at their end of season club race at Dawley on Sunday.

The children also paid £1 to join in the pumpkin parade on Sunday to boost the funds for the bike.

Trinity, who is a pupil at The Bridge School in Hadley, was born with a heart condition called Fallots Tetralogy which limits the amount of oxygen pumped round the body.

It can lead to episodes where she can't breathe and her parents said as she grew up the condition got worse so doctors kept monitoring her.

At two months old the brave youngster underwent surgery to widen the pulmonary artery to improve the flow of oxygen.

Unfortunately during this surgery she suffered a stroke and she had to have emergency heart surgery.

The stroke resulted in left side hemiplegia, a type of cerebral palsy, which means she has little use of her left arm and limited use of her left leg.

Her mum Claire Russell said her little girl was also NG tube fed for 15 months after surgery until she learnt to tolerate food and drink.

But the battle continued for little Trinity as at seven months old she suffered infantile spasms which is a severe form of epilepsy and can affect mental development and left her with speech problems and developmental delay.

Mrs Russell said Trinity suffered her first seizure since she was seven months last November and now has epilepsy permanently as well.

Mrs Russell said: “Trinity has however started to improve massively on her walking and has even started to say more words although her speech is not very clear.”

She communicates with her family through Makaton signing and loves school.

The bike was presented to Trinity on Sunday in front of more than 200 BMX riders and supporters from across the Midlands at the £250,000 National standard track on Duce Drive.

Club coach Mr Edwards said: “I was in school with Trinity’s dad and despite not seeing each other for a long time I spotted the video of his little girl riding a bike for the first time.

“It was a special trike and it obviously made her so happy.

“Then I read the family couldn’t afford the bike due to the high cost and I thought how unfair it was that any of our own children could pick up a bike from anywhere to have that fun but Trinity couldn’t.

“It stayed with me and I was determined to get the bike. We bought it for Sunday and then asked for further donations from the people who were at our event.

“Many people were left in tears when they met Trinity and her family and saw her smile when she saw the bike and sat on it.”

Mr Edwards added: “We are a community club and rely on so much support from our sponsors and others within the community in order for us to run the club and facility so it is only right that on occasion we give something back.

“We hope to welcome Trinity back to Wrekin Riders soon where she can show off her pedalling to our other members.”

Trinity was joined by her parents Ian and Claire and her sister Kendra, eight, along with her grandparents at the presentation on Sunday.

Mr Russell said: “We can’t thank Wrekin Riders enough for what they have done for Trinity - the bike is amazing and we think the crowd could see how happy she was with her amazing smile.

“Kieran has literally blown us away with his determination to not only raise the money but to also source the bike at a more reasonable cost.

“It was a very emotional day and we will be forever grateful that a voluntary run club such as Wrekin Riders which relies solely on donations and the small amount of income they get from their sessions would do this for our little girl.

“Trinity will be able to enjoy the outdoors now on her trike like any other four year old rather than being in her pushchair.”