VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — Exercise bikes, an unweighted treadmill, a seated stepper and other workout machines fill the newly carpeted room at Buckeye Wellness Center in Valley View. But this is far from a typical fitness center.<\/p>\n
Owner Christopher Wynn designed the gym as a place where he and others with spinal cord injuries can work with specialized trainers to build muscle mass — and hope.<\/p>\n
“This has been a long time in coming,” says Wynn, who opened the fitness center with his wife, Susan, in the fall after four years of planning and pursuing financing.<\/p>\n
He glances over at 21-year-old Miranda Liggett, who is working out with trainers Mike Giardina and Kyan Johnson. Liggett, a quadriplegic injured four years ago in a car accident, has traveled with her mother, Marcie McCoy, more than 90 minutes from Strasburg, Ohio, for a fitness session at Buckeye Wellness.<\/p>\n
Both trainers work Liggett’s legs one at a time as she lies on her back on a low table.<\/p>\n
Sweat drips down the young woman’s determined face as Johnson slowly lifts Liggett’s left leg. “Pick it up, drive it up, drive it up,” he says.<\/p>\n
When he has the leg fully raised he says, “Hold it, hold it, hold it.”<\/p>\n