'She deserves that normalcy in her life.' Miah gets her wheels

JACKSON TWP. – This summer, Miah McClure will turn Sweet 16.

On Tuesday, the Hoover High School freshman was gifted with her own set of wheels in the form of an adaptive tricycle for people with disabilities.

Outside of Cain Toyota-BMW, a small crowd of family, friends and well-wishers were on hand to see Miah's happy reaction as the tricycle, festooned with balloons, was presented. They cheered as she took her first ride.

An emotional Bre McClure, Miah's mom, said she was grateful, noting that Miah has long wished to join her brother on bike rides. Now that will be possible.

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"It's very overwhelming," she said. "Miah is going to be 16 in July. It will give her the ability to do whatever a kid does."

Miah's dad, Sam, said getting his daughter the tricycle was a personal goal.

"I started out the year on a mission," he said. "This will be her Sweet 16th birthday. I was determined that she would have wheels like other teenagers."

'They were looking for new opportunities to help people.'

The purple tricycle — Miah's favorite color — was made possible through a network of caring people, including Kate Detweiler, a family support specialist at Hoover High School and member of the Stark County Educational Service Center's CARE Team.

Detweiler said she went to work upon learning that Miah's family was trying to raise money to buy her an adaptive tricycle. Meanwhile, Detweiler had become a fan of Cain Toyota-BMW, where she had bought a minivan.

"I started following their Facebook page, where I learned they were looking for new opportunities to help people," she said.

Detweiler contacted company President Brian Cain, who said helping Miah was in keeping with the dealership's commitment to the community.

40 random acts of kindness

"Last year, we celebrated our 40th anniversary with 40 random acts of kindness," Cain said. "This year continues with 'Cain in the Community.' It's something we're proud of. We were very happy to be able to help Miah and her family."

The dealership's other community projects have included stocking the Jackson Township Fire Department's pantry, purchasing Nothing But Bundt cakes for teachers during Teachers Appreciation Week, paying for 50 families of special-needs children to attend an adaptive performance of the "Polar Express" at the Canton Players Guild, and supporting "buy local, give local" promotions.

Detweiler said she also contacted other businesses, including the North Canton Dairy Queen, where owners Kurt and Missy Warther hosted fundraisers, and the Sideliners, a booster club which handled the funds raised and committed to make up any shortfall of funds.

The $3,200 Rifton tricycle was customized for Miah by Motion Mobility & Design in North Canton. Owner Steve Williams noted that medical insurance generally doesn't cover the cost of the tricycles because they're considered recreation.

Williams said they customize six to 12 adaptive bikes a year. Miah's, he said, took about two months.

Bre McClure told the crowd that she was shocked when she learned about the effort to raise money for Miah's tricycle and who was involved.

"I didn't let myself get too excited," she recalled. "If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all."

'Her odds of survival were less than 30%.'

Miah was born on July 26, 2006.

"She was delivered six weeks premature but only spent eight short days in the NICU before she was cleared to go home with no complications noted and no special instructions needed," Bre McClure said.

"Much to both our surprise and the pediatrician’s, her development stayed on track for her true age rather than her adjusted age, which was what we were instructed to base it off of. What more could a parent ask for? We had a typically developing, healthy 9-month-old baby girl."

But on April 23, 2007, Miah experienced a near-drowning that left her fighting for her life. She was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at Akron Children's Hospital, where the family learned of the severity of Miah's condition.

"Due to the lack of oxygen and water retained on her brain, very little brain activity was detected," her mother said. "Her brain had began to swell to a point that her soft spot was raised and she had began to have mitochondrial seizures.

"Her odds of survival were less than 30% ... They told us she would never talk, she would never walk, she would be deaf and she would be blind."

Bre McClure said doctors advised the family to "pull the plug" and let her die.

"I was told to call my priest in to have her read her last rites, and let the family have time to say their goodbyes," she said.

But Miah fought to live.

"She made it through several nights as a matter of fact and made her way out of the PICU to a regular room that became our 'home' for the next month," Bre McClure said. "It was a sigh of relief the day her discharge papers came, but we were overwhelmed with all of the new instructions her care came with as well as all of new equipment needed for this care.

"Her diagnosis upon discharge was global anoxic brain injury, epilepsy and cerebral palsy with right-sided hemiplegia. There was not a single section of her brain that wasn’t damaged."

The next months and years were filled with caring for two children, and battling with insurance companies to cover the cost of Miah's specialized equipment, which in many cases were deemed as "luxuries."

"Over the years Miah has continued to defy the odds and prove those doctors wrong," Bre McClure said. "She has a love for music, singing, her beloved baby dolls and she idolizes her little 'big' brother, Joey. As parents, we do our best to make sure she gets to experience as much normalcy as possible, from having her participate in a ballet class, to enrolling her in gymnastics, to helping organize 'The Sparkle Effect' at her elementary school in order for her and fellow classmates to be able to cheer on the high school squad."

Fortune smiled on the McClures this week as their daughter took to her new wheels just like a teenage girl should.

"She's the toughest, most determined human I’ve ever met," her mother said. "And more than anyone else, she deserves that 'normalcy' in her life."

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Cain Toyota-BMW donates adaptive tricycle to Hoover High student