Running errands, visiting a friend, and getting to work — for many of us, these are easy day-to-day tasks. But for those with cerebral palsy, moving around on their own is not so easy.
Long-time Bay Village resident Brian Stock knows first-hand the difficulties of the disorder, and he has never taken even the small amount of mobility he has for granted.
Stock has lived in Bay Village for more than 20 years and is a familiar face to so many who live there.
"Everybody likes Brian. They see him all over town," Bay Village Police officer Brian Pelagalli said.
So people noticed when he started having trouble getting around on his motorized scooter.
"He's been breaking down quite a bit. Some cold days he was stranded and couldn't get home," Bay Village police officer Anthony Fuchs said.
"Sometimes it would stop in the middle of the road," Stock said about his scooter.
It's an inconvenience in and of itself, but with cerebral palsy, it's more than that. Stock needs those wheels to get around.
"If he doesn't have a scooter he's pretty much home bound," Fuchs explained.
According to Stock and police, his insurance would only cover a new indoor model scooter.
"They wouldn't get him the kind that was necessary to get around," Fuchs said.
That clearly wasn't going to cut it, so Pelagalli and Fuchs found a way to get the outdoor-friendly scooter he couldn't afford on his own.
"I decided to reach out to city departments and see how much money we could raise," Fuchs said.
He said donations started pouring in from police officers, firefighters, city workers, organizations and residents. They raised more than $2,000.
"Everybody stepped up with a helping hand," Pelagalli said.
"He's not somebody that's ever asked us for a thing," Anthony Fuchs said.
They gifted Brian a brand new scooter just a few weeks later.
"It feels good to do something nice for a good member of the community," Fuchs said.
Bay Village police ended up raising more than enough to cover the scooter. They gave the extra couple hundred dollars to Stock to save for maintenance or repairs.
Stock said the scooter is so much more than a new and improved ride — it's his key to independence.
"I don't have to rely on people to transport me."
He said people in Bay Village will see him cruising his hometown concrete for years to come.
"Thank you very much for helping me out," Stock said to the officers.
All of this just in time for summer.
