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Maple Ridge boy with cerebral palsy will take part in 5 kilometer run

Dylan Pallister will be walking and running intermittently for the Scotiabank 5 kilometer run/walk in Vancouver.
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Dylan Pallister, 11, left, will be participating in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge on the weekend to raise money for the Cerebral Palsy Association of B.C.. Contributed

Dylan Pallister has cerebral palsy, but that doesn’t stop the enthusiastic 11-year-old from playing wheelchair basketball, sledgehockey, adapted swimming or jogging.

Dylan was diagnosed with the condition when he was a year old.

He was deprived of oxygen to the brain either before, during or after birth.

“So it’s kind of like brain damage. It depends on what part of the brain is damaged, as to what it affects in a child. Every person is different,” explained his mother, Celia Pallister.

With Dylan, it’s his balance and mobility that are affected. Everytime he grows, his muscles become tighter. But that can be improved with exercise.

He walks around with the aid of walking sticks.

Finding activities in the community that are adapted is key, says his mother.

“[Cerebral palsy] is a static condition – it doesn’t get worse, but it doesn’t get better,” she explained.

Dylan is preparing to participate in the five-kilometre Scotiabank Charity Challenge.

He will be raising money for the Cerebral Palsy Association of B.C., one of 80 charities particpating in the challenge.

This will be his second time participating.

“He just wanted to have a goal to raise money to help people going through the same thing as him, raise money for the programs,” said Pallister.

Dylan has been preparing for this year’s event with his mother and their dogs along the dikes in Maple Ridge.

He will be walking and running intermittently.

His mother will be bringing a wheelchair for him, as well, in case he needs a rest.

The Scotiabank Vancouver half-marathon and 5-km run take place June 25.

The half-marathon starts at 7:30 a.m. at UBC Thunderbird/East Mall and the 5-km run/walk starts at 9:15 a.m. on Stanley Park Drive at Ceperley Field.



Colleen Flanagan

About the Author: Colleen Flanagan

I got my start with Black Press Media in 2003 as a photojournalist.
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