When Nikolay Kuzmina, a 38-year-old Marblehead resident with cerebral palsy, snapped the axle of his beloved tricycle almost two months ago, the high school’s track team took the initiative to get Kuzmina a new one.
According to Track Coach Nolan Raimo, “Nikolay is famous in Marblehead,” mostly for riding his tricycle around the high school. Raimo guessed that Kuzmina probably rides 3,000-4,000 miles/year no matter the weather conditions.
“I’ve had a pretty good relationship with Niko for about five-and-a-half years,” Raimo said. “We always talk and walk, and as soon as he lost his tricycle, we realized we had to do something, so the track captains put together a fundraiser instead of doing a coach’s gift and raised over $1,200 to buy a new tricycle for Niko.”
In the past, the track team had used the coach’s gift to raise money to buy Dunkin Donuts gift cards for the custodial staff, bus drivers and athletic directors, for example. Raimo pointed out that the coach’s gift is a chance to “really help the people around us,” adding that “we’re a team of 140 kids, so we have the weaponry to bring care and do something special.”
The track team presented Kuzmina with his new bike last Thursday, and he was overjoyed.
“This is a wonderful community I live in,” Kuzmina said, reflecting on his new gift. “The people are very caring and very concerned about other people, such as myself. I’m very grateful.
“It’s very cool, my new trike. It has fat tires, which is very good; that way, I don’t have to worry about running over sticks and stuff. Of course, I’ll be careful, but it’s a neat trike.”
When asked why he thought the track team would go out of its way to fundraise for him, Kuzmina attested it to the friendships he’s built with Raimo and the team, saying that there was a “very tight-knit bond” formed.
“There’s truly no better gift in this world for a person than this tricycle for Niko, and it was kind of a gift for us to be able to (give) the ultimate gift to a person who is so kind and caring, to support someone who is known in the town for their activity,” Raimo said.
He continued, “I mean, people know him as the guy who tricycles around the high school, so for us to be an active team and support someone who’s active, who kind of had their ability to be active taken away, is fantastic.”
