On a Wednesday evening in the spring of 2004, Erik was driving from his work as a fundraiser at the University of Portland to Athey Creek Middle School in West Linn, Oregon, the location his churched used as a meeting place for its Sunday services and Wednesday night Bible study. On this particular afternoon when it seemed like everyone was either out mowing their lawns or running in the warm sunshine, the desire to run hit Erik deep in his core. The only problem was that Erik hadn’t run – he hadn’t walked or even stood up on his own – in nine years. Erik had been paralyzed in an ATV accident on his family farm in 1995 when he was just 16 years old.