Patty Rohde wanted to surprise her father on his birthday with a game of golf, after she experienced a tragic bike accident three years ago.
A couple of years ago, Patty Rohde from Grand Rapids was involved in a biking accident. She was an avid high school golfer and, more importantly, a big part of her family’s active lifestyle. Now, after two and a half years, patty—with the help of a mobility cart—was able to surprise her father, Frank, on his birthday with a round of golf.
“I have a spinal cord tear, steel for legs. I spent eight months in the hospital and I haven’t been golfing in, because of that, in three years now,” Patty said.
Frank taught Patty and her siblings how to golf when they were younger, and the family played at Pokegama Golf Course for many years. Patty now hopes to tee off again with her entire family. Pokegama staff arranged for Patty to play using a mobility golf cart from VertaCat.
“13% of the population are mobility challenged. And of that number, 10% of them play golf or want to play golf. So the market is there. We now need the golf courses to participate and offer this to the community,” Jeffrey Nicholson with VertaCat said.
Patty was excited to create a special memory for her father with the help of adaptive technology.
“Maybe I should surprise him on his birthday, have a handicap cart. My brother’s out there right now, golfing 18 with him, they don’t know that we’re here,” Patty said. “So we’re gonna surprise him shortly. I’m just excited to be out here to smell the Lake and just like where I used to grow up, and what I was doing before.”
Roughly 12% of Minnesota’s population has at least one disability. But with new technology, people are able to capture new moments or relive past experiences.
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“To see Patty on the golf course again, she’s back out here after a couple years of rehabilitation. What they’ve done with these carts is amazing. To see her swing a golf club and be able to do that again is a thrill. Patty is a very active person,” Frank said. “This is something that is just a wonderful tool for her to be able to use again and be able to play golf. So I thank everybody for providing this.”
The Pokegama Golf Course is raising funds to provide a mobility cart to increase access for golfers of all abilities. They have a goal of $35,000 and they’ve raised $12,000 so far.
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