Pushing her way through the obstacles

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Despite having heard doctors rule it out, Ashlyn Coogan isnt going to let cerebral palsy or epilepsy stop her from learning how to walk.

While her mother, Tammy, says the five-year-old Orangeville girl has been blessed with a great sense of humour, Ashlyn can also be a tad bit manipulative.

She knows how to work people, Tammy laughed. Shell get them to do things for her.

Ashlyn must have been speaking to someone with the Orangeville chapter of the Knights of Columbus.

The service club has adopted Ashlyn and the Coogan family for its fifth annual Charity Motorcycle Ride next month.

The Knights of Columbus had previously raised money for the families of Kaitlin Bolton and Jennifer Flynn. Tammy has seen the positive effect that has had on those families.

We feel blessed that theyd accept us, she said. Its nice that there is a community service out there that is willing to help out local families.

Just hearing about the hurdles the Coogan family has been forced to overcome made it an easy decision, explained Terry Barrett, grand knight for the Orangeville chapter of the Knights of Columbus.

While Ashlyn has both quadriplegia spastic cerebral palsy and focal epilepsy, Tammy has been forced to undergo radiation treatment for thyroid cancer since the age of 25. Her cancer is a type that doctors say will never go into remission.

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Pushing her way through the obstacles