GRAND HAVEN -- A Grand Rapids man born with spina bifida says his disability isn't stopping him from going to the beach this summer.
Spina bifida is a a birth defect in which the spine does not fully develop.
Despite relying on his wheel chair, the man from west Michigan is swimming in lake and enjoying the sand, thanks to a new resource at Grand Haven State Park.
The state park in Grand Haven is working to make the beach more accessible for everyone.
With the help of a non-profit, this year they have a new sand powered wheelchair, so that those with disabilities can experience the sand.
Ryan Krygier has spent summers here at grand haven state park since he was 12 years old.
"It was like a whole world that I never saw," says Krygier. "I would come to the beach 10 years ago and the farthest I would go is the end of the pavement."
Now, 24 years later, with the help of this beach wheelchair, Krygier can now make it to the waters edge
There is a certain degree of weightlessness in the water, I can walk in the water," says Krygier.
10 years ago, the state park bought a floating chair, allowing him to swim in the water. Now that the $2,500 beach chair was donated by the Pursue a Dream Foundation, Kregier can roam the beach as well.
Joyce Rhodes, the state park's new manager, tried to buy the wheel chair but didn't have the funds. Her two parents and sister are all wheel chair bound, and she knows how valuable these resources can be.
"There is nothing people with disabilities can't do if they put their minds to it," says Rhodes.
"My goal has been since 1989 is to make the parks that I work in assessable to all people," says Rhodes.
