Roxanne Champagne of Haywood is gearing up for the Cerebral Palsy Bike Race this May.
This event holds special meaning for her as she rides in support of Luc Koswin, a spirited 19-month-old facing challenges due to cerebral palsy.
Having known Luc’s parents since high school, Champagne has witnessed the love and resilience of their family firsthand. “Luc is such an inspiration,” she shares, admiring his determination to keep up with his twin brother, Leo.
“It’s got to be tough when he can see his brother doing all these things that he really wants to mimic,” said Champagne. “But it motivates him to move and walk and do what his brother does. He’s always so upbeat about it, which is fantastic.”
Shawn agrees, calling his one-and-a-half-year-old a “tough cookie.”
Luc’s diagnosis wasn’t a shock to the Koswins when he got it at one year old. According to the Mayo Clinic, cerebral palsy is a “group of conditions that affect movement and posture.” It’s caused by damage to the developing brain — most often before birth.
When Caroline was pregnant with Luc and Leo, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome occurred. The rare pregnancy condition happens in pregnancies where twins share one placenta and a network of blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients essential for development in the womb, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. Twin-to-twin transfusion occurs when the vessel connections within the placenta are not evenly dispensed between the twins, causing an imbalance in the blood exchange between them. One twin (in this case, Leo) gives away more blood than they receive, running the risk of malnourishment and organ failure. The recipient twin (Luc) receives too much blood, causing their heart to overwork.
Because Luc’s heart was working so hard, it ruptured a blood vessel in his brain, and Shawn and Caroline had to get on a rushed flight to Toronto to have the brain bleed corrected. Everything was fixed, and she carried the boys for eight more weeks, but doctors warned the soon-to-be parents of the possibility of long-term effects.
Luc and Leo were followed closely after their birth, and at Leo’s one-year appointment, he received his diagnosis of cerebral palsy. Because Luc’s injury was on the right side of his brain, the left side of his body is affected. Shawn and Caroline noticed he wasn’t using his left hand as much as his right, and he was slower in reaching the milestones Leo was achieving, like sitting up.
His diagnosis was this: left-sided spastic hemiplegia, a condition that causes paralysis or weakness on the left side of the body. Because of this, Luc’s left hand is often in a tight fist, and he can’t do all the motor skills his right side can do. His left leg has different muscle tones than his right, so he wears an ankle brace and isn’t yet able to stand or walk on his own. At night, Luc wears a splint to keep his hand open, and he has a walker to use during the day to teach him how to walk. His cups all have handles so he can pick them up with his one right hand, his core needs extra strengthening, and he’s in speech therapy.
“He’s a rockstar,” said Shawn. “He’s gone through it all with a smile on his face. As long as we keep up with the therapies and work with him, he should have a good quality of life. It’s all about keeping up with appointments and getting him everything he needs.”
As of 2021, almost 85,000 people in Canada are living with cerebral palsy, the severity of each case varying. There’s no cure for the condition, which is why fundraising events like the Cerebral Palsy Bike Race are important.
Last year, Shawn rode on a friend’s team for the race, which prompted him to put a team in under Luc’s name for 2025. On Saturday, May 10, at Blue Cross Park in Winnipeg, teams of 14 or less will ride stationary bikes to raise funds for the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba. Champagne is one of the people riding on Luc’s team, Luc’s Lucky Charms.
“An outrageously high number of people are affected,” she said. “It’s whatever we can do to make fundraising as fun as possible.”
The event will also open the conversation around cerebral palsy and educate those who don’t know much about it. Champagne said before Luc, she had no idea what the condition really was, and now she has the tools to teach her own children about it.
“It’s important to have the word out there and teach kids it’s not a bad thing,” she said. “It’s not taboo. It’s something you can live with and it makes you a little more unique than the rest.”
Luc’s Lucky Charms hopes to raise more than $5,000 for the Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba. Donations can be made until May 10 at www.supportcerebralpalsy.ca/Events/BikeRace.
“It’s great to know that so many people out there care about Luc and want to see Luc do the best he can,” said Shawn. “It’s not just about being on Luc’s team; it’s about raising awareness and getting support for the people out there.”
