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Teen completes 64-km walk while carrying brother on his back

TORONTO – A Michigan teen completed a 64-kilometre, two-day trek Sunday all while carrying his seven-year-old brother on his back to raise awareness about cerebral palsy.

Hunter Gandee, 14, strapped on his 50-pound brother Braden Saturday morning and walked from a junior high school not far from the Ohio border to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

“One night his mom had a dream that he was walking with Braden on his back,” Braden’s father Sam Gandee told Fox 2 News. “That’s where the idea came from. We thought it was a small community thing, but it grew to something we could never imagine.”

Braden Gandee, 7, rides on his brother Hunter’s, 14, shoulders as they close in on the final miles to the University of Michigan Bahna Wrestler Center on Sunday, June 8, 2014. (AP Photo/The Ann Arbor News, /Chris Asadian).

Called the Cerebral Palsy Swagger, the trek’s goal was to raise awareness about the neurological disorder.

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“I got done with the bracelet sale at my junior high and tried to think of different things to raise awareness,” Hunter told the Detroit news station.

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Hunter said there was talk of stopping the walk around the 50-kilometre mark due to chafing on his brother’s legs but they pushed on.

“I’m more tired than I’ve ever been. My legs are pretty sore, but we pushed through it, and we’re here,”  Hunter said.

with a file from the Associated Press.

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