Brothers through 57 miles and cerebral palsy

Braden Gandee, 8, can’t push his walker across the mulch of his elementary school playground. His big brother Hunter, 15, wants him to be able to play like his friends, even though Braden has cerebral palsy (CP).

To raise awareness for the suffering of children like his brother, Hunter carried Braden on his back for 57 miles this weekend. He said he wanted to get “the attention of the leaders, engineers, and innovators of tomorrow” who could develop technology to solve his brother’s daily struggles: walking across the playground, bathing, and shifting from the walker into the car.

Last year, Hunter walked 40 miles carrying Braden in what he called the “Cerebral Palsy Swagger.” He set up a Facebook page about his walk and Braden’s struggles.

Braden was born with CP, a life-long physical disability caused by damage to his developing brain. Cerebral palsy has no cure. One in three patients cannot walk and half live with chronic pain. Braden cannot walk without help. He joked that he would have to stop eating junk food before this year’s walk so his brother would have less weight to carry.

Hunter’s efforts have already helped his brother. Though he did not ask for donations, supporters are raising the $80,000 needed to build a pirate-themed, all-accessible playground for Braden’s school, according to the Monroe News.

Hunter’s walk this weekend began at the school playground in Temperance, Mich. From there, they walked for three days with supporters—from firemen to parents of cerebral palsy patients—cheering them on. They finished at the University of Michigan’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Center in Ann Arbor, 57 miles away.

“It went great—we walked into a big crowd of people,” Hunter said, adding that Braden “was excited—not only that we were done finally, but everyone was there cheering him on.”

Members of Hunter’s high school sports teams and world silver medalist wrestler Jake Herbert met the brothers at the finish line. Someone dumped a bucket of ice water over Hunter, who admitted to being “pretty sore.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.