AUSTIN – A 12-year-old boy is turning heads on and off the court.
His name is Finley McKeag. Finley is a Boy Scout and has a disability that impacts his ability to walk, but that doesn’t stop him when it comes to sports.
Finley has scuba-dived and played rugby, basketball, tennis, and track field. He lives in Austin but travels across Texas to ensure he gets to explore and live his life to the fullest.
“In Boy Scouts, he’s the only one with a physical disability,” Finley’s mother Dawn McKeag said. “At the same time, we don’t let that stop him.”
Finley’s family has found a way to make everything he wants achievable despite his disability.
With support from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and his parents, Finley achieved his Boy Scout camping badge at Lost Maples State Natural Area.
The badge requires several challenges to be accomplished, including a five-mile hike. The hike would not have been possible for Finley without the assistance of an ActionTrack chair and a GRIT chair, which are terrain-accessible wheelchairs.
“To have any experience in sort of the natural trail experience, there’s no way without the equipment,” McKeag said. “I think the collaboration with the state parks folks was amazing and really helped to make it possible.”
Jessica Burke, accessibility manager for TPWD, said access to inclusive hiking measures like their parks are pivotal for people with disabilities. Burke explained that TPWD offers wheelchairs designed for upper body strength, allowing users to push levers to move the chair instead of walking. Others can also push those wheelchairs.
“We have about 20 of those chairs in our system across all the state parks,” Burke said.
“I saw (the wheelchairs) first online,” Finley’s father, Chris McKeag, said. “I’m like, ‘this thing is going to be great at some point.’ I had no idea that the state parks had any of them to bring out.”
Finley said that initially, using the wheelchairs was difficult, but once he got used to getting the chair over rocks and gravel, it became “pretty fun to use.”
“My hope will probably be to able to become a Paralympian,” Finley said. “But for now, I’m just doing all these different sports so that I can get that experience.”
TPWD said it has plans to increase the number of accommodating wheelchairs it has across the state. The entity also has plans to improve assistance for visually impaired people.
“We ask people to give us two weeks' notice if you need an ASL interpreter, if you need something printed in braille if you need a wheelchair at a specific site,” Burke said. “It’s definitely something that Texas Parks and Wildlife is invested in, and wants to make sure that we are providing lots of opportunities.”
“I’m just happy I get to explore at an early age so that I can figure out what I want to do with my life,” Finley said.
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