Welcome to The Skatin' Rink!

 I have sat here for the longest time not even knowing where to begin with this post. So many emotions run through you when you see a very personal goal come full circle.

Many of you know or have seen our close friend Jacob Carroll at the rink nearly every weekend. He’s been a friend of the family for years and helped us get the newly acquired rink up and going five years ago by assisting in the skate center. The fact he has cerebral palsy doesn’t stop this young man AT ALL. He loves being with us at The Skatin’ Rink and we love having him!

Over the past two years we have tossed around ideas of “how can we get Jacob out on that floor with us.” We didn’t want something for him to sit in as that’s just not the same as the feeling of skating upright around that disco ball! We knew if anyone could help us, it would be Auburn University ‘s engineering team.

I was fortunate enough to come across a contact that worked in AU’s engineering department. He needed assistance with getting his medical records and we had an idea to throw at him! It couldn’t have been a more perfect timing! After that, it was an amazing and beautiful labor of love by an outstanding senior student team we were blessed to work with!

In the picture you’ll see not just Graduating Students but a team of hearts that worked for months to make an idea come to life. We had the concept and they had the brains to put it all together! With RFM donating some of the materials, (THANK YOU!) Jacob’s father Heath welding, and the team pulling it all together …we couldn’t have asked for a better outcome! AU will also be helping make this invention available to other rinks and their communities by making the blueprint available for download as well as website links to the Cerebral Palsy foundation. They are working on the web site as we speak!

Personal and grateful thank you to (left to right) Jack Komlos, Sarah Mai Broaddus, Drew Hood, (Jacob) Yu Wang, Elizabeth Foster and Abdalla Al Ali for helping us make this a reality for Jacob. He is beyond excited and ready to skate with his friends at the rink! We could have never done this without each and every one of you. We love you guys for all of your hard work and dedication to this project! Best wishes on your future careers! I know this project will hold a special place in all of your hearts. It will forever be in ours.

Sincerely and with much love,
Jason and Carmen Turnham

#CerebralPalsy #rollerskating