Help UO Shoe Design for Aldo: Train Survivor!

My name is Shamra. A few weeks ago I was on vacation visiting my mother in Panama City Beach, Florida. While I was there, I paid for a pass to work out at a local gym called Sequence. Every morning I would pass this cheerful man in his 30’s that would wish everyone a great workout with a huge smile on his face. I started to look forward to our daily interactions as his positivity was infectious.

While I was doing weights, I noticed that he would run on the treadmill for about an hour. He had a unique running technique, his left leg would drag on the toe coming forward. I ended up going to talk with him and asked him how far he ran. He said he tried to go at least 4.5 miles a day. I can't imagine how hard that would be, given his different movements.

I engaged further with him and here is his story: His name is Aldo Hernandez. When he was eight years old, his two cousins drove him and his brother (12 years old) to go snowboarding. Their car was somehow hit by a train. His cousins survived but his brother did not. Aldo was in a coma for two months, while his parents were told he would never walk or talk again.

He had a big struggle ahead of him in trying to recover and successfully overcome many obstacles. He loves to run outside, but can no longer do so because he goes through so many shoes because of that foot drag on the concrete pavement. So he now only runs indoors on a treadmill. He expressed to me that running is his therapy and he would love to run outdoors again.

In my short acquaintance with him, I felt inspired to try to help him. I reached out to former Nike employees and folks who work at University of Oregon. I am excited to share that UO Product Design has offered to have a student design a modified shoe for Aldo over the summer! This fundraiser would be for the student's time and materials to modify an existing shoe for him. I am hopeful for $1200 for the first pair and any raised money in addition would go towards more pairs for Aldo to be able to run longer over time.

Thank you for reading this and considering to help me help this young man!

~Sham