Teen Carries Brother on Back on 40-Mile Trek to Raise Awareness of Cerebral Palsy

For 30 hours over a 40-mile course last weekend, Braden Gandee was strapped to his older brother, Hunter’s, back during a walk to raise awareness of cerebral palsy.

Step by step, mile by mile, they walked in tandem, just as they have since Braden, 7, was born with CP, an incurable condition caused by brain injury that limits mobility.

Hunter, 14, was 6  at the time and understood enough about cerebral palsy to know that Braden might never walk under his own steam, the  teenager told CBS News. He has watched his brother, who moves with the help of a walker, experience difficulty on all kinds of terrain.

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So he organized The Cerebral Palsy Swagger, a 40-mile trek from Bedford Junior High in Temperance, where Hunter is an eighth grader, to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the obstacles individuals with cerebral palsy encounter.

The campaign caught the attention of news organizations across the country, accomplishing that goal. Their story has been covered extensively by Michigan media, as well as TIME, ABC News, NBC News, the Associated Press and others. The story resonates with millions of Americans. CP is one of the most common cognitive disorders children suffer, affecting about three-quarters of a million Americans.

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The original idea was a more ambitious walk from Temperance to Mackinac, a two-week trek that would include 20 miles of walking a day. So they settled on the trip to U-M instead, the children’s mother, Danielle Gandee, told MLive/The Ann Arbor News.

When they started out Saturday morning, about 50 friends and relatives joined the Sam and Danielle Gandee and their four children, who also include Kerragen, 13, and Kellen, 6.

They walked more than half the distance Saturday, spent the night in Milan and then finished  Sunday afternoon. Hunter lifted his younger brother up to touch the ”Go Blue” banner that Wolverines athletes touch before games.

It was a difficult walk, Danielle Gandee said, but Hunter was determined to finish it.

“That’s just Hunter,” she told MLive. “This is what he wanted to do. I knew he’d do it, and I had faith in him the entire time. We were a little worried about Braden. He had some injuries and blistering and stuff like that from some of the equipment and just the heat and sweat, so we were worried we were going to have to push him in his stroller.”

When the chafing from the sling caused discomfort, the family repositioned it.

“And then I actually called one of my friends and he prayed with us,” Hunter said. “I think all of that combined helped us push through.”

Hunter told The Associated Press that he was more tired than he had ever been in his life, but it was an opportunity to give back to his younger brother.

He said his younger brother is a source of inspiration. “Whenever I’m going through something that difficult and doing something  that’s hard, I see him and how he works through it,” he told CBS. “It kind of pushes me through.”