Turning a loss into a win is no easy task.
Lindsay and Travis Jepperson understand the frustration and struggle of overcoming impossible odds. It’s been over a decade since Travis was thrown from his four-wheeler after hitting a car. Doctors said he wouldn’t be able to walk again. Today he has three beautiful children: Haigen, Tate and Charlie and walks assisted by a brace. A brace deemed unnecessary by insurance. “We fought insurance for three years. We were told the braces were not medically necessary and just a convenience for Travis,” said Lindsay.
After losing in court, Lindsay was unsure where to turn next. “I’m a runner, so I wanted to do a fun run 5k to raise money. We raised over $32,000 to help Travis get his leg brace. We had about 200 participants show up to the race.” Now they’re paying it forward. The Jepperson family started the nonprofit: Life Is Good 5k. Since its inception five years ago, Life is Good 5K has raised money to help members of our community — our neighbors and friends. Their second race helped a young lady who sustained a traumatic brain injury receive specialized therapy. During their third year, runners ran to help a young mother of two, paralyzed from the waist down after breaking her back in a tragic mountain biking accident, receive therapy and an adaptive mountain bike. Last year they helped four children receive toiletry equipment and adaptive bicycles.
Lindsay works as a special education teacher at J.R. Elementary, giving her an insider’s perspective into the world of those with different abilities or “superpowers” as she refers to them. Isolation is a big problem in the disabled community. Children with disabilities spend a great deal of their free time alone or away from other children, often staring at computers or televisions indoors. As a result, they do not receive the positive feedback needed from peers during play. Adaptive equipment and bikes foster friendships and teach children to find their similarities rather than what makes them different.
This year’s goal for the Life Is Good 5k is to build an adaptive playground, a request from a local boy, who was born with cerebral palsy. The playground will enable children with disabilities to enjoy the outdoors and build social skills they would usually not have access to. This space will also provide a place for caretakers to connect and find support. Helping others overcome impossible odds through providing items often deemed medically unnecessary by insurance companies, yet vital in the lives of those they help, is what Life is Good 5K is all about.
Event date: Saturday, June 6, 2020 | Learn more information at lifeisgood5k.com
