Father makes stop in Colorado Springs during cross-country bike ride to raise money for charity
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- On Wednesday, a father made a stop in Colorado Springs as he made his way to the East Coast on his bike.
He's on a mission to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charity and share his family's story.
Jeff Bekos was welcomed with cheers as he rode his bike to the Ronald McDonald House. But his family's life was turned upside down on July 5, 2013. His daughter Hailey Bekos was diagnosed with a rare neurological disease. According to Bekos, there were only 300 cases in the world.
"The disease that she was diagnosed with was Anti NMDA Receptor Encephalitis and it was a very it's still a very rare autoimmune disease. I basically disconnected all of the receptors in her brain. So her brain had no idea what to do," said Bekos.
The Bekos stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia while Hailey received her treatment. As a way to give back, he's doing the ride called "One Dad's Mission, Coast to Coast Jeff Bekos Bike Ride." Bekos said staying at Ronald McDonald House really helped them focus on their daughter.
"I think about the support that we received from the Ronald McDonald House, it was just incredible because that allowed us to focus on healing and not other things that were going on in our lives," Bekos said.
Bekos started on his journey on July 29th in Orange, California and he hopes to make it to Philadelphia by October 14th. His goal is to raise $5 million. So far he has raised $506,000.
