EDMONTON – A 17-year-old boy who spends a lot of his time giving back to the community was given a surprise gift from two men, one of whom was a complete stranger.
Family and friends came together Thursday as Jax Dorward was given a custom-built race car wheelchair.
“It’s cool,” said Dorward. “I like racing cars… they go fast.”
At age five, Jax Dorward was diagnosed with FSGS kidney disease which worsened over time. Over the years, Dorward lost some of his hearing, and most of his ability to walk. In 2013, he received a kidney transplant from his father – a story that touched people across the country.
READ MORE: Dad donating kidney to son hopes others will think about organ donation
One of the people touched by Dorward’s story of courage was Terry Bendera, the president of Prostar Energy.
“He’s a story of a champion. He’s got a true, positive spirit,” Bendera said of Dorward.
After seeing how involved in the community Dorward was, particularly with fundraising efforts at the Stollery Children’s Hospital, Bendera wanted to do something that would positively impact his life. He offered to have the teen’s family home renovated so it was a bit more accessible for Jax.
“We didn’t know how truly inspiring he was going to be to us and our group,” Bendera said.
Then, while on a plane home from Dallas, Bendera found himself telling Dorward’s story to a complete stranger next to him, and the giving became contagious.
“He reaches in his pocket and gives me this handful of cash,” Bendera recalled. “He goes, ‘you know, I build drag race cars and we race them. I think I could do a wheelchair.'”
“This guy felt so passionate about helping Jax.”
That guy was Brad Janishewski, a team owner with Fire 4 Hire Jet Cars.
“When I heard that story in a minute I thought, ‘Wow, I’ve had my health issues’ and I thought, you know, what a remarkable young man.”
After a bit of planning, the idea to build Dorward a custom race car-themed wheelchair was put into action.
“It just came to us that we could rally the troops and get everybody on my team involved,” Janishewski said. “The more we got doing it the more fun we stared to have and we wanted to make it really cool lookin’ like a racecar.”
On Thursday morning, the wheelchair was delivered to Dorward, complete with an actual race car steering wheel.
“It’s nice to have something like this… to go around and try it out. I think it’s going to be good,” Dorward said, adding that his favourite parts are the steering wheel and seat.
“I’ve never had something like this before.”
Janishewski has arranged to have Dorward visit Castrol Raceway next summer to ride along in a real race car.
The renovations to Dorward’s home should be complete in the next couple of months.
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