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SALT LAKE CITY — In the cavernous playroom at Shriners Hospitals for Children, 5-year-old Adrian Paz crawled up a hippo slide — his favorite — using his hands to pull his body behind him.
"I bet you didn't see that coming!" he shouted as he slid down.
Adrian is a happy, outgoing boy who gets around amazingly well despite having spina bifida, a birth defect where his spinal cord didn't develop properly.
"Adrian's an active kid," said Crystal Chrastil, a physical therapist at Shriners. "He likes to play. He's got the best imagination, and he's just more limited by his ability to do certain things."
On the day KSL visited him, Adrian was getting his independence in the form of a motorized car — one he can operate on his own. His physical therapists said this step is key to his development.
"It's different if you're pushing him around in a stroller or pushing him along on a bike," Chrastil said. "If they can do it on their own, that's what gives them the chance to grow and explore and become individuals."
Adrian has limited control of his legs and uses a wheelchair to get around. Pushing pedals is impossible, so physical therapists rerouted the power on his motorized car from the pedals to a button on the steering wheel.
With the push of his thumb, Adrian was on his way: freedom on four wheels.
"Wow, weeee, wow," he squealed, his voice vibrating as he drove his new car.
When his friends are out running around, he doesn't have the ability to run with them. But now, with this truck, he can go a little bit faster. We can take this thing anywhere.
–Larry Paz, Adrian's father
Something as simple as rewiring his car means the difference between Adrian sitting on the sidelines and playing with his friends.
"When his friends are out running around, he doesn't have the ability to run with them," said Larry Paz, Adrian's father. "But now, with this truck, he can go a little bit faster. We can take this thing anywhere."
There's also plenty of room in the truck for his peers. Socialization, after all, is an important part of growing up, his therapists said.
For children, work is play. Physical therapy has to be fun, therapists said.
In the therapy room, Adrian roared loudly and pretended to be a dinosaur as he used crutches to walk across a special bridge without letting the invisible "snakes" below get him.
His parents hope he'll walk one day, and he's working hard to reach that goal. In the meantime, he's got a pretty sweet ride.
"It's probably the best part of my job," Chrastil said. "He comes around the corner and he's just so excited to be here. He can't not make you smile. I can't wait to see him out in the grass getting into trouble like a 5-year-old should."
Now, maybe Adrian's wheels can keep up with his larger-than-life personality.
"That's the whole goal: for him to be just like any other kid," Paz said. "We don't want him to feel any different."
