Many community members have stepped up to help a Longmont athlete after her racing wheelchair was stolen.
Julia Beckley came back to her west Longmont home on the evening of March 29 to find the specialized wheelchair stolen from her garage, and called her friends for support.
“I’m balling on the phone with one of them, and I can’t even breathe,” Beckley said.
The athlete searched in dumpsters and at local stores in hopes of finding her racing chair, but had no luck. And replacing the chair would take many months and cost thousands of dollars, she said.
“I have to fly to Atlanta, get fitted, they’ll build the racing chair … then I’ll come back to test it and train with it with Able Sport, and then I will come back potentially a third time to finish any small things,” Beckley said.
Learning to use a new racing wheelchair will also be a setback, she explained.
“I’ve spent all this time training in my other chair, and it’s going to be a huge difference,” she said.
Beckley’s friend Cindy Snyder started a GoFundMe page to replace the stolen wheelchair, and within two weeks, more than $10,000 had been raised.
“She’s incredible and I knew that people would want to rally around her and support her, but I was actually surprised at how quickly it went,” Snyder said. “Originally we were just aiming to get the chair replaced, but it’s a specialized chair and she has to travel, and so we upped the goals so that she had travel money, and still, we’re almost at that goal, which is incredible.”
If the fundraising campaign surpasses its goal, Beckley said she’ll donate additional funding to adaptive racing groups.
Beckley has a rare bone disease, hypophosphatasia, but despite facing many setbacks, she’s an inspiration to many, Snyder said.
“She could be in ICU one day, and the next day out running an event,” Snyder explained. “She’s just incredible… she doesn’t let it stop her.”
As of Wednesday, Beckley’s racing wheelchair hadn’t been found or returned, but she said the outpouring of support from businesses and community members has made her “feel loved.”
“What a special feeling, despite the circumstances that came about,” Beckley said.
