Justin Thomas is ready to roll, thanks to a remarkable sports wheelchair fundraiser led by students, parents, and community members at Manatee Elementary School. The 11-year-old fifth grader, an avid basketball player on the Naples Basketball Association’s Thunder team, is finally getting the custom chair he has long dreamed of owning. Justin, who has spina bifida and limited mobility below the waist, uses a wheelchair every day, but his regular chair is not designed for the speed, movement, and agility required on the basketball court.
His regular chair works for getting around school, home, and the community, but it’s not ideal for sports. He has dreamed of owning a sports wheelchair with angled wheels for easier turns and faster speeds, and a lower back to allow him to recline further, giving him a better angle to shoot the ball. But those specialty chairs are expensive. His mother, Kristina Thomas, said they had been saving for years, but could not afford one. Then this fall, the staff at Manatee Elementary School in Naples decided to dedicate all the money raised during their annual Turkey Trot fundraiser to buy Justin the sports wheelchair. Usually, the event raises about $3,000, but the students and community rallied behind the cause and raised more than $9,100.
“Yes, I was surprised,” Justin said. “I will be able to roll in it faster and play basketball. The wheels are slanted sideways so it is easier to turn and faster. I can move around better.”
Justin recently went to Clearwater to be fitted for the custom chair. He chose his favorite colors, blue and orange (University of Florida colors), for his new wheels. He added a bit of green to the chair’s name and chose colored spokes for the wheels.
He had another surprise waiting for him at Top End Sports in Clearwater. While he was there having his chair fitted, he met Paul Shulte, a co-captain of U.S. Paralympic basketball team who will also be in the 2028 Paralympics Games.
Schulte “even invited Justin to come to one of his clinics in the St. Pete area,” Kristina Thomas said.
Laurie Mearsheimer, principal at Manatee Elementary, was amazed at how much money was raised for Justin’s chair.
“Absolutely, we were surprised, but we knew it would happen because we saw how everyone rallied around him,” Mearsheimer said.
The sports wheelchair costs $6,700. Since the school raised more than $9,100, there was money left over to make life easier for Justin and other students with disabilities at school. Manatee Elementary has a courtyard where students enjoy eating lunch, but the tables there are not accessible for all students.
“It is very limiting,” Mearsheimer said. “So now we are upgrading to new furniture that is handicap accessible.”
Mearsheimer said the community’s kindness has done more than get Justin new wheels; it has given him a new outlook. She described Justin as a very shy child in the past, but the recent support has changed that.
“This whole experience has made him come out of his shell,” she described. “He is a little more talkative. He got the attention and saw it was not so scary. He just couldn’t believe it was finally happening.”
Justin was a cover kid on the March 2018 issue of Neapolitan Family Magazine.