An accessible kayak launch is the newest addition to a Somerset County reservoir
Johnstown, Pa — There's a new and exciting addition to the Quemahoning Reservoir just in time for summer, an accessible kayak launch!
6 News first met and introduced you to the woman behind the accessible kayak launch last August when it was just an idea, ten months later and that dream is now reality.
Shelly Kerchner, the Program Coordinator with Open Waters for All says she hasn't kayaked in about four years, but that long wait is finally almost over as she will be kayaking again soon thanks to the accessible kayak launch which was installed in the Quemahoning Reservoir Tuesday.
“I want to cry. Overwhelmed, grateful,” said Kerchner. “Very emotional day for me, it’s just gratitude.”
Kerchner says she was an avid runner, but took interest in kayaking after an accident left her paralyzed from the waist down 17 years ago - she is the woman behind the idea of installing an accessible kayak launch.
“I started a Go Fund Me page for the launch and then community leaders jumped on board, said it was a good idea. We formed an Open Waters for All and board members and we made this happen,” added Kerchner. “People knew the need, there’s a need here. They just wanted to help, that’s the way people are here.”
Kerchner tells 6 News it will be an emotional day when she is back in a kayak on the water and she says she knows the accessible kayak launch will also be useful to a lot of people who may kayak in the Quemahoning Reservoir.
“One woman said to me, ‘I’m going to be able to kayak before I die, thank you’. You know people just can’t, they can’t come out because it wasn’t safe what we had here before. It was usable, but not for people with mobility issues so many many people will be using it, yes,” said Kerchner. “It’s going to be good for the community as a whole. It’s going to bring people here; I know that for a fact.”
Kerchner added this dream truly wouldn’t have become reality without the help she got from local State Representative Jim Rigby as well as board members and so many more.
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