GUELPH Three young adults with spinal cord injuries are to be key participants in the citys annual Wheels in Action event Sunday.

The event to raise money, support and awareness for people with spinal cord injuries will again be staged at the University of Guelph. The three featured young people with spinal cord injuries all have ties to the university. They are undergraduate student Drew Cumpson graduate student Sandra Burton and resident Jesse Redden.

Cumpson was the subject of a community benefit function earlier this year in Guelph. He suffered his injury on the final day of a two-week volunteer trip to Peru in May 2011. Burton suffered a spinal cord injury just before her 18th birthday. She graduated from Guelph with a child studies degree in 1998 and earned a masters degree in speech language therapy. She is now a speech pathologist for preschoolers and made media headlines earlier this year when she gave birth to twin girls.

A car accident led to an incomplete spinal cord injury for Redden, now 23. Initially in a Hamilton hospital, he is now completing rehabilitation in Guelph, including taking part in the SpinFit exercise program at St. Josephs Health Centre. He can now walk with assistance.

We are also happy to bring the focus of the Wheels in Action event to our Guelph community and the amazing folks that live here, said Cyndy McLean, director of the Health and Performance Centre, who brought the original Wheels event to Guelph.

Wheels in Action is a Guelph spin on the annual Wheels in Motion event started by Olympic wheelchair champion Rick Hansen and held by U of G since 2004.

The event will begin at noon at the U of Gs Athletics Centre; registration starts at 10:30 a.m.

Before Sundays event, local school teachers and students will also highlight the fundraiser and the challenges faced by people living with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities by spending time in wheelchairs. Stephanie Clarke, a U of G graduate and Grade 4 teacher at Paisley Road Public School, and student Jenica Centurione will spend the day in wheelchairs.

Guelph Wheels in Action will include a 2. 5 kilometre walk-roll-run, wheelchair activities, a free barbecue, entertainment and childrens activities. Participants collect pledges individually or as a team. The Canadian Disability Resource Council (a registered charitable organization) will help process pledges and donations in person and online, and will provide tax receipts for donations of $20 or more.

This is a great way to celebrate Fathers Day by wheeling, biking, skating, running or walking through the beautiful University of Guelph campus, said McLean, a former marathon runner who became paraplegic following a 2003 accident.

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Guelph’s Wheels in Action set for Sunday

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