Five-year-old Robert Gleason is always on the move thanks to a tricycle that is built just for him. His trike is from Variety-The Children's Charity of Eastern Tennessee.
Robert was born with Hydrocephalus, which is water on the brain. When his adopted mother Stevie first met him, he had very little mobility.
"I adopted him from Liberia. I had moved there shortly after graduating college," Stevie said. "I met Robert on my first day there actually and there was just something different about him . I just knew he was his child."
Stevie was working with a foster home at that time and was able to see Robert every day. The came back to the United States and began working on improving his mobility.
"When we first got back, and really when I first met him, laying on his back was the only position he'd been in," Stevie said. "Now he's able to walk around a little bit with a walker, he can ride his bike and hold his head up now. He couldn't do anything like that before. We were just starting kind of a newborn phase of motor development."
Variety stepped in to help the young family. Founded in 2001 by Regal, Variety provides funding to at-risk children and children with special needs. The group works with local organizations like Second Harvest Food Bank, Emerald Youth Foundation and the Mission of Hope.
"We also work with Numotion to provide mobility equipment for children with special needs such as wheelchairs, walkers and special adaptive bikes," said Carol Fusco, Exec. Director of Variety. "This trike is especially adaptive to him. It helps his motion, his muscle tone his socialization skills and it will carry him through the rest of his life.
Money raised at the December 13, 2018 movie screening of "Aquaman" will help Variety work to help other children in East Tennessee.
Today, there's literally no stopping Robert as he continues to thrive within his family and on his trike made specifically for him.
"It's wonderful to see Robert be able to be mobile and gain freedom of mobility," Carol Fusco said. "It's a rite of passage for every child to have bicycle or a bike at some point in their life and this is what this trike is for passage of freedom for him."
And Robert's mom says she can't thank Variety and it's supporters enough for giving Robert a way to play and enjoy the outdoors.
"Thank you doesn't seem to suffice. Because it's a life changer!," Stevie said. "There's always people who do little things for you, I'm always appreciative there's so many people in Robert's journey but Variety is someone we will never forget. That's a blessing that you count every day."