Lasting Belonging: How Northland Adaptive Recreation helped Johnny find his place
For years, Alina Galligan heard doctors explain all the things her son Johnny would never be able to do. Johnny, who is nonverbal and uses a wheelchair, experienced a permanent brain injury when he was just eight days old. So when his physical therapist suggested he try Northland Adaptive Recreation (NAR) programming, Alina struggled to imagine what participation would look like.
“I was like, ‘Have you seen his medical record?’” she recalls. But, in the fall of 2024, she decided to give adaptive archery a try.
Alina expected a short one-time experience—a box checked. Instead, something extraordinary happened.
“When Johnny got in the room, he immediately lit up,” she says.
A place where he felt included
Living in Ashland, Wisconsin, the Galligans don’t often encounter other families with children who have similar abilities as Johnny. At NAR, they found a sense of belonging that felt both new and deeply meaningful.
The other kids gravitated toward him, wanting to be his friend. He became alert, more animated—laughing, squealing, dancing in his chair.
“We were included; we weren’t different. And I could tell Johnny felt that,” Alina says.
For the first time, Alina saw her 12-year-old son simply being a 12-year-old boy. A moment she once believed she would never experience.
From disability to ability
During adaptive archery, Johnny uses a bow set on a stand positioned right at his wheelchair. A NAR volunteer helps pull the bow back, then Johnny aims and releases on his own.
For a family of hunters, it was painful for the Galligans to imagine Johnny might never join them in this tradition. But today, Alina says he’s thriving.
“We joke that he’s shooting better than his dad now,” she laughs.
Johnny proudly hung his paper bullseye target in his bedroom—a badge of accomplishment.
“It’s given him a sense of worth, just like all the other kids who play sports,” Alina says. “He’s been given an opportunity that was once taken away from him. It’s amazing to see it on his face.”
A life changed, one opportunity at a time
Alina believes NAR has truly changed Johnny’s trajectory. After spending more than 1,000 nights in hospital beds, Johnny’s health and cognitive abilities are steadily improving.
“He’s just … more there,” says Alina. “There’s meaning behind his eyes. He participates more in family activities. It gives him a sense of being, a sense of pride, being able to go have fun with kids just like him.”
The transformation has touched the entire Galligan family. They founded and host the annual FORE The Children Golf Fundraiser in Bayfield, along with another family, the Vernons. This year, they chose to donate a portion of the proceeds to NAR—a reflection, Alina says, of just how deeply the program has impacted Johnny’s life and their family’s sense of hope.
“NAR is like a safety net,” Alina says. “You can go your whole life not needing it, until something changes in a moment. And when it does, this program is here. It gives families hope, and it gives kids a way back to being active and engaged after the unimaginable.”
For the Galligan family, NAR is more than an activity.
It’s belonging.
It’s joy.
It’s possibility restored.
It’s ability recovered.
Learn more about NAR at mdfoundation.org/support-areas/northland-adaptive-recreation.
