| He founded a not-for-profit making costumers for kids in wheelchairs – he plays wheelchair rugby – and he speaks at conventions. (He’s still in High School!)
Reese was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer at the age of two months. The tumor was in his neck, shoulder, chest, liver, lung and was wrapped around his spinal cord in his neck. The tumor in his spinal cord ended up growing and crushing his spinal cord causing him to be in a wheelchair. Reese did go though 8 rounds of chemo, multiple surgeries and was cancer free before his first birthday. Reese has always worked hard to overcome his disability. He inspires others to help by helping create a 501(c)3 non-profit called “Walkin’ & Rollin’ Costumes.” This organization helps build costumes for kids in walkers and wheelchairs all over the nation, free of charge to the families. He helps design and build the costumes as well as lead teams of people to build the costumes. He even helped build the Monster Truck wheelchair costume for Delany that was sponsored by Variety KC. Reese first started playing wheelchair rugby about 4-5 years ago and immediately fell in love with the sport. Two years ago, he joined the wheelchair rugby team, KC Revolution. This team has been an enormous help to Reese by allowing him to spend time with other independent adults in wheelchairs. Last year, when Reese had a spinal fusion surgery, his rugby team was there in the hospital room supporting him. They have been by his side as he has gone through rehabilitation to get back to the sport he loves. While he currently is on restricted play by his surgeon, they expect him to be back on the court with his team by the start of the season in the fall. Reese has been using his down time to train on his own, pushing in his wheelchair 5-7 miles a day, building up his strength for the fall. He still attends practice with his team and trains with them, but isn’t allowed to hit anyone in his wheelchair until the surgeon gives the ok. Reese is a very kind and caring individual. He looks out for others all the time. He loves to cosplay and his favorite is Ant-Man with his wheelchair costume being Ant-onio Banderas. He attends charities as Ant-Man with other superheroes to meet with kids. At comicons, he helps promote Walkin’ & Rollin’ Costumes, a non-profit that builds costumes for kids in walkers and wheelchairs all over the nation for free. He speaks in presentations, and helps design, build and reveal the costumes to kids at these conventions. I have always loved working with Reese to help build these costumes. Reese is becoming quite the engineer in his designs as well. He is attending Olathe Northwest High School in the fall as part of their 21st Century Program focusing on Engineering. His background with building wheelchair costumes will surely come in handy. |
