You could say Michigan teenager Hunter Gandee went the extra mile to raise awareness of the impact of cerebral palsy by carrying his 7-year-old brother who suffers from the disease on his back during a two-day, 40-mile walk.
Hunter Gandee and his brother Braden traveled from Bedford Junior High School, near Toledo and next to the Michigan-Ohio border, to the Bahna Wrestling Center on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor,
according to the Ann Arbor News.
Hunter Gandee, a junior high wrestler, told the newspaper that he hoped the walk would bring more attention to cerebral palsy, which impacts a person's and nervous system and affects that muscles and motor coordination.
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"I can't even tell you how special he is to me," Hunter Gandee said in a video on MLive.com. "I can't put it into words but he's awesome and he's always there for me. I wanted to give back to him in some way."
A crowd of about 100 people broke out in a loud cheer when Hunter lifted Braden to touch the "Go Blue" University of Michigan athletic banner at the end of the walk.
"Proud isn't even really a word I could use; it's way beyond that," said their father Sam. "To me, it's one of those things that can make a difference in the world and at age 14 and at age 7, Hunter and Braden, they've reached so many people. It's way more than I have done in my life."
Hunter told
ABC News that the walk was strictly to raise awareness and those willing to donate money could go to the University of Michigan's Cerebral Palsy Research Consortium.
Hunter won fans along the way, with many showing their support for the middle school student on Twitter.
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