A California father now spends special bonding time with his daughter that wasn't have been impossible until a few years ago. James Ridgeway is a Navy veteran and avid runner who enjoys his time outside. He regularly tracks miles with his son and has added his 24-year-old daughter, Gaby, to the fun. The pair have now completed ten half-marathons together, all with Ridgeway pushing his daughter in a special wheelchair.
Gaby is nonverbal, but she has ways of communicating with her family. When James realized his daughter wanted to join the family's runs, he knew he had to find a way to make that happen. James told People that with the help of Ainsley's Angels of America, Team Ridgeway was formed in 2019, and the pair have been hitting the pavement for half-marathons across the country ever since.
Gaby suffers from several genetic disorders.
Because of a disorder called Oculocerebrocutaneous syndrome, or OCC, Gaby cannot walk and suffers from intellectual disabilities as well as seizures. She is blind in one eye and has scoliosis and cerebral palsy.
These conditions affect her speech and mental development. Gaby can stand for short periods but cannot walk alone, according to People.
Gaby wanted her family to know she was missing out.
According to James, Gaby communicates with her family. When he came home from runs, he could tell she was irritated, and he wanted to get to the root of the problem. As he told People:
"She has vocabulary words, but she'll tell you when she's upset. We would go out on the weekends and as soon as she hears somebody leave, she wants to know where you're going. We would come home from a run and she would be visibly irritated and we asked her, 'Are you mad?'"
Gaby was indeed mad. And her father wanted to find a way to make her happy.
"[She said] 'Yeah.' 'Why are you mad? Because we go running without you?' 'Yeah,'" James recalled. "So I asked her, 'Do you want to run with us?' and she's like, 'Yeah!' I was like, 'Oh, wow. How do I do that?'"
James wanted to get his daughter outside to join the family's runs.
In 2019, Ainsley's Angels of America, an organization focused on inclusion for activities like biking and running, helped the Ridgeways secure a special wheelchair for Gaby that they could use for runs. Together, the pair began to work on their distance. James needed to see what his body could do while ensuring Gaby was comfortable and safe.
"I've always wanted to do a half-marathon and we were just testing the limits of how long she could [go on runs and] really enjoy it," James said per People of increasing the distances he and Gaby did together. "We got a speaker, put that on the chair and that was it. She's a music lover, loves to dance, loves to scream her favorite song and that was the start of it."
James adjusted his training to fit Gaby's needs.
The colder months aren't ideal for Gaby, so her dad continues his training solo when it is cold. But he explained to People that even when Gaby is not with him, he still acts as if she is there.
"I train in the winter months without her," James said. "It's too cold. I try to do most of the training with [the wheelchair] because that's going to make it easier. If I train by myself, it's too easy to go faster, so I can't judge how my progress is."
More From CafeMom: Disney Evil Queen Is Melting Hearts on TikTok After Interaction With Special Needs Teen
James said he runs the half-marathons for his daughter, who loves to be the center of attention with her outfits and music.
"She loves to stand out," added Lorena Ridgeway, who serves as the "pit crew" leader for Team Ridgeway and decorates Gaby's outfits and wheelchair. "She loves having her music. She'll do anything from pop, some rock. She does a little bit of hip hop."
The duo's most recent race was the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas, and Gaby finished the event strong. The race ended under the lights of the strip among 12,000 other racers. Her father said they did pretty well, and with the help of Hoyt Racing, Gaby walked across the finish line.
"I just basically hold her shoulders and she's screaming and the crowd's going wild and she's having a ball with her hands up," he told People. "It's amazing."
The pair is training for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Salt Lake City this summer.
