This month’s spotlight is Jimi from Newcastle, CA! Jimi is a new recipient of an Active Fund grant for an offroad handcycle, a Bowhead Reach!

Jimi grew up riding bikes and was stoked when he first got into adaptive mountain biking this past summer. “I had wanted to ride one of the Bowhead bikes for some time and was blown away once I finally got to try one,” he recalls. Having spent his childhood on dirt bikes and eventually mountain bikes, he explains that since his injury, “nothing makes me feel independent the way this bike does.”

Jimi grew up on a fruit orchard where he still works with his family. There, he learned how to weld at a young age. “[Welding] is just one of those essential skills that makes a lot of things possible on a farm,” he explains. Just after his accident when he was getting fitted for his first wheelchair in inpatient rehab, Jimi joked “I should build one of my own.” Over time, frustrated with the chair that he received through insurance, Jimi used his welding skills to work on it. Eventually, the chair fell apart entirely and he had a decision to make: “either buy a new custom wheelchair or put the money towards a new welder and other equipment to help me build a wheelchair of my own,” he explains. A year later, Jimi finished his first-ever custom wheelchair! “The chair for me helped relieve a lot of the discomfort I was having and overall was better suited for my lifestyle and had me sitting in a much better position helping with my posture.” Now with the use of CAD 3D software, Jimi can whip up a chair in just a few months! 

During the fall season, you can catch Jimi out on the farm harvesting mandarins, kiwis, persimmons and pomegranates. “Living on a fruit orchard I learned hard work and problem solving at an early age. When it came to my spinal cord injury, the farm helped challenge me and adapt to my disability. I continue to grow with the orchard and find new ways to adapt and do the things I once did.”