When Elijah was born, his small size was a surprise to everyone in the room—he weighed just an ounce over 4 pounds. After a long period of time in the NICU, the doctors diagnosed the condition affecting Elijah’s growth and development—a rare genetic disorder known as Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Throughout his life, the condition has affected Elijah’s cognition, balance, and speech. It also affects Elijah’s ability to sweat and regulate his body temperature, so can easily become too hot or cold.

Despite being non-verbal, Elijah can communicate with his family in his own way. “He is an incredibly affectionate child, as other kids with this syndrome are incredibly affectionate,” says his mom, Shalray. She laughs. “And he’s got the most beautiful eyelashes, which is also part of the syndrome. He has eyelashes women would kill to have.”

Elijah loves the outdoors but is sensitive to his environment and loud noises. “He loves water, loves to be outside, loves the beach and long walks,” says Shalray. “He can’t talk, but he communicates. He lets you know.”

At the time that Elijah was referred for a wish, the family of five was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But Elijah couldn’t go outside a lot because it was either too hot or too cold. So the family made the decision to move to Santa Cruz, where the weather is more steady and mild.

During the pandemic-related shutdowns, Shalray noticed that people were outside more and more. “It opened my eyes to things like getting my son outside without being in a public venue and exposing him to COVID,” she says. That’s how she came up with the idea for a custom-built duet bike that she could ride with Elijah and get outside in a safe way.

The bike is a bright, attention-getting yellow with a canopy to protect Elijah from the heat and a motor to help Shalray pedal uphill when needed. “It’s more than I ever thought it would be,” says Shalray, of their new wheels. “He’s in a safe chair and he’s in the front so he can see everything. And it goes fast! He absolutely loves it!”

Weather permitting, Shalray picks Elijah up from school on the bike and enjoys that it’s a conversation starter. “It’s so awesome,” she says. “All the kids were like ‘Wow!’ because it’s not a normal-looking bike, you know, it’s yellow, it’s bright. It just really sticks out, so a lot of the kids are curious; the parents are curious.”

For Shalray and her husband, Colin, the bicycle has helped them get back out into the community more as a family. “When you have a kid who’s so sensitive to the environment and sensitive to loud sounds, it restricts you sometimes,” she says. “And then when COVID kicked in, it really, really isolated us. But the bike brought a sense of connection to community.”

Elijah’s wish brought freedom and ease of movement outdoors. Although his condition requires a lot of care, he and his family can enjoy and focus on the good feelings that the bicycle brings. “For a lot of these kids, including Elijah, most of their lives consist of lots of doctor visits, surgeries, specialists, and IEP meetings,” says Shalray, “and all these things that pretty much focus on their disability or their sickness. It’s a really, really, nice distraction for a child to have something that they really, really want. I just think it’s important to focus on good things, good things that are going to make them happy.”