Keyport-Matawan Elks Surprise Cliffwood Boy With Bike

CLIFFWOOD, NJ — With lights and sirens blazing — and many of them on motorcycles — members of the Keyport-Matawan Elks and local EMTs hand-delivered an adaptive bike this past Saturday to a 10-year-old Cliffwood boy who has cerebral palsy.

When Jacob heard the sirens coming down his street Saturday afternoon, he first thought he was going to meet his personal hero, Ellen DeGeneres, his mom, Bernadette Richmond, told Patch.

"We were outside playing. Suddenly the sirens came and he starts flipping out. I told him 'We have a great big surprise for you," and he says 'OMG, Ellen's coming on the fire truck!'" his mom relayed. "I said, 'Lol, no bud, but something just as incredible."

We're sure you've been following the story: Bernadette, a single mom in Cliffwood, was desperate to win a specially-designed bike for Jacob. The Van Raam EasyRider, Jr. is made especially for kids who have walking and stability issues. Jacob, who was born premature at 25 weeks (he weighed one pound at birth) and has cerebral palsy, uses leg braces to walk. He was initially told by doctors at Monmouth Medical Center that he would never walk or talk, but is now in the fifth grade at Lloyd Road Elementary School. His mother has been trying to win him the $3,900 bike for years, but was never able to get enough votes. This past February, Bernadette contacted Patch and asked us to share a link on our site to Jacob's voting page. Once we did that, the votes started pouring in!

When the local Keyport-Matawan Elks got wind of this story, they also shared the contest on their Facebook page and asked all Elks lodges nationwide to vote for Jacob. The contest organizers actually said Jacob received the highest number of votes in the contest's history; they'd never seen someone receive so many votes.

The Keyport-Matawan Elks Lodge took it one step further and even offered to assemble the bike at their lodge. They hand-delivered it in a special surprise parade Saturday, April 20.

This is a photo of Jacob hugging Stephen Szczepaniak, the vice president of Matawan-Keyport Elks.

"All those people blew his mind. What your Patch did wasn't just getting Jacob a bike," said Bernadette, who also shared that Jacob has being bullied at school. "He said, 'I hope the kids at school see I have friends.' You brought my confident son out again. While riding his bike he is ringing his bell to cars and giving thumbs up. THANK YOU!"

Jacob, pictured above at birth, was born at 25 weeks at Monmouth Medical Center. He weighed one pound when he was born. He was kept in the Monmouth Medical Center NICU and had several seizures there in the weeks after he was born, his mother said.

That's when he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Today, Jacob struggles with walking and motor skills, and he is also cross-eyed, but otherwise he is a thriving, healthy boy. Once word got out, someone in the community also found out that Jacob needed a new pair of glasses, and bought him some.

He wants to be a cheerleader and fashion designer when he grows up. Go, Jacob! Patch and your community are always here for you!

Photos provided by Jacob's mother.

Video of the bike being delivered Saturday: