Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
HUNTER GANDEE, 14, holds his brother Braden Gandee, 7, in a harness on his back on Saturday in Temperance. Hunter set out on a 40-mile trek on Saturday with his brother strapped to his back, hoping to raise awareness about the muscular condition, Cerebral Palsy Swagger, that prevents the younger boy from being able to walk without help.
ANN ARBOR (AP) - A Michigan teenager carrying his 7-year-old brother on his back has battled heat, rain, fatigue and more to finish a 40-mile walk to raise awareness about cerebral palsy.
Fourteen-year-old Hunter Gandee walked from his high school not far from the Ohio boundary to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He packed his brother, Braden, throughout the two-day journey.
On Sunday, they strolled up a winding road toward the university's wrestling center. Asked how he felt, Braden said simply: "Tired."
Hunter acknowledges there was talk of stopping the walk around the 30-mile mark due to chafing on his brother's legs.
Called the Cerebral Palsy Swagger, the trek's goal was to raise awareness about cerebral palsy and to put a face on the muscle disorder.
