SUDBURY, MA – As Jothy Rosenberg sat on Emma Collier’s front lawn, he took a moment to appreciate just how far she had come since he was first introduced to her family. Today, Emma proudly runs with joy thanks to a prosthetic leg crafted specifically to fit her desire to run alongside her fellow classmates. She is just one of many Jothy’s organization, Who Says I Can’t, has been able to help over the last decade – and they’re gearing up to help with a record number of requests for adaptive equipment in 2024.
Yet doing so comes with a hefty price tag, and Jothy knew this firsthand. “Insurance companies won’t pay for adaptive equipment,” he explains. “A running leg for a kid with an above-leg amputation, then the lower part and then the blade – that’s about a $21,000 item. No matter how much you love your kids – where are you gonna come up with that?”
When Jothy had been just 16 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer in his own knee. He and his parents made the difficult decision to amputate quickly, yet the lifesaving procedure also meant his athletic aspirations were put on pause – possibly even permanently. Yet finding innovative solutions to chase his dreams was nothing new to Jothy, and he chose instead to give every ounce of strength he had into the sports he knew and loved. “Everybody kept saying, ‘You can’t ski again, you can’t everything, you can’t, you can’t, you can’t.” He said, remembering that difficult chapter in his life. “What I knew right then was if I worked hard, if I focused on getting good at this, that was going to be such an accomplishment that I knew I was going to feel good about myself.”
52 years later, Jothy is now a double black diamond skier, has completed a journey by bike one-legged from Boston to NY four times, and completed the Alcatraz Swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco 29 years in a row. “You do all that all the time because it keeps recharging your batteries,” he smiled. Today, the Who Says I Can’t Foundation he launched 10 years ago exists to continue his mission of providing adaptive equipment such as sit-skis and running blades to children as they grow with the promise to keep their equipment fitted for a lifetime.
Their annual event coming up at the historic Wayside Inn Sudbury on June 8th will go to fund equipment like McKinley’s sit-ski. McKinley Fay is an avid skiier living with spastic quadriplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. “The ski industry in general is expensive, and so too is adaptive equipment,” explains Jim Fay, McKinley’s father. “It was thousands of dollars standing between our family and adventure and independence on the ski hill.” That’s where Jothy stepped in. “The Who Says I Can’t Foundation does a lot at a high level of impact for those families that it touches. Life really opened up for us.”
On June 8th, the annual Who Says I Can’t elegant soiree at the Wayside Inn in Sudbury serves as a perfect kick-off to the summer season where proceeds will go to support families like Emma & McKinley in need of adaptive equipment. “The gifts made to this foundation go a long way in a short distance,” explains Jim.
To learn more about Who Says I Can’t & grab tickets to their June 8th fundraiser, visit their websites.
To see more stories like this or if you have an event you’d like to pitch to Emmalyn to cover, email emmalyn@emmalynreid.com.
Emmalyn Reid 