Amelia Griffith-Thomas is like many three year olds: She adores the water and swimming.
What sets her apart from most other toddlers is that she’s paralyzed from the chest down.
Despite that, she’ll take part this weekend in a three-kilometre swim race in the Ottawa River — with a little help from her mother, Anne Griffith.
The mother-daughter pair are taking part in Bring on the Bay, an open water race that starts at the Nepean Sailing Club and ends at Britannia Yacht Club, and raises money for Easter Seals Ontario.
“It’s important for me to include Amelia in this race, because with her disability she’s excluded from a lot of things in life,” Griffith said. “I just wanted to include her in something that I’m doing.”
Amelia’s boat
Griffith has fashioned a little boat for Amelia to glide along in her mother’s wake. It’s made of canvas with inflatable tubes on either side, and a rope for Griffith to pull while she swims.
Amelia’s life-jacket is fastened to the craft “so she can’t accidentally throw herself out of the boat,” Griffith said with a laugh.
“Because on days where she really likes to swim, she’s pretty enthusiastic about throwing the boat forward because she can rock it on her own.”
Because of that enthusiasm, Griffith weighs down the boat’s stern so Amelia doesn’t tip it forward. Amelia’s father will also be kayaking near the pair for a bit of added security.
Easter Seals
“A day out at the beach for a family that doesn’t have a disability is … fun and enjoyable, but for us it can be difficult,” said Griffith.
Getting Amelia’s wheelchair over the sand is no easy feat, but her love of water is all the more reason to ensure she can make it there.
Saturday’s race is raising money for Easter Seals, a charitable organization that helps children with physical disabilities by providing help with such things as mobility equipment.
Amelia’s own family has relied on the charity to help pay for some of her gear.
Griffith said she hopes seeing Amelia and other kids at the race will encourage people to donate to Easter Seals, because they’ll see the children who are benefiting from the money.