ABDUL ARAJDEL Wilkes-Barre, PA Team Member 2019
Team Allied Services Ambassadors
Allied Services can open a whole world of opportunities to children with disabilities. My cousin, Rachchag Abdelhadi, has cerebral palsy. Rachchag struggled with his disability as a child, but has become a Paralympic athlete himself. He won a few medals in the 2015 Paralympics and he inspires me to keep running and pushing myself.
On November 3, Abdul Arajdel will run the 2019 TCS New York City Marathon. Abdul is a proud Team Member of Mohegan Sun Pocono, a 10 year major sponsor of Team Allied Services. This will be a special marathon for Abdul, as it falls on his 42nd birthday. Abdul also recently passed his citizenship test and was officially sworn in as an American citizen on April 15, 2019. He is honored to run in the New York City Marathon, not only as a representative of Mohegan Sun Pocono, but as an American.
Abdul is running in honor of a bright young boy, Chase Elmy. 11 year old Chase from Hanover Township is on the autism spectrum, diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDDNOS). He has been coming to Heinz Rehab Hospital for 9 years, where he has received feeding, vision, speech, and occupational therapy. When Chase first started therapy he had minimal communication skills and had a difficult time expressing his words. Now, he loves to approach people to say hello, has improved on his eye contact and is working hard on his social cues. He is also more open to trying new foods but his absolute favorite is McDonald’s.
Chase is excited to enter the 5th grade and enjoys karate which has helped greatly with his focus, coordination, and balance and also loves learning about geography. He loves locating any place he has been to on the map and also finding new places he would love to explore such as New York City to see the Statue of Liberty and Missouri to see the Gateway Arch. Chase cannot wait to track Abdul’s New York City Marathon on the map and is excited to cheer him on!
https://www.justgiving.com/about/info/goodbye-edh-hello-justgiving
