Aliscia’s dream ride

Motors roared, rubber kissed the road and a large number of bikers invaded Krugersdorp on Sunday, 16 February – all of this to make one girl’s dream come true.

“I arrived at Total on Gordon Road a few minutes after 9.30am, hoping to see a few friends coming along to support us,” Marius Wolff van den Bergh said.

“To our total disbelief, Carmen-Lee [Botha] and I rode into what could’ve been mistaken for a day jol with bikes and bikers everywhere. When we left in smaller groups for Nandos at Key West Shopping Centre, it dawned on me that I had put the wheels in motion for something that could be huge. Getting to Key West and seeing the group of people waiting there for us put a lump in my throat.”

In the end it was difficult to guess how many bikers had shown up, but once the call was made, many a rider couldn’t turn down an opportunity to support Aliscia de Bruyn and make her dream come true.

Aliscia was born with myelomeningocele spina bifida, a condition that causes the membranes and the spinal nerves to protrude at birth, forming a sac on the baby’s back. She is bound to a wheelchair. Over the years, she has had a growing fascination with motorcycles and wanted to be a rocker, dressing and acting the part too. Her dream of one day going on a breakfast run with a bike club soon reached Wolff’s ears, and he didn’t waste time making it happen.

When Sunday rolled around, Aliscia had no idea that approximately 150 bikers were waiting down the street outside her home. Her face instantly lit up and she flashed an infectious smile when she saw how many people had come to support her.

It wasn’t long before she was in the side-car of one of the motorcycles, and was escorted down Robert Broom Drive by Public Safety officers and a long string of shining motorcycles as far as the eye could see.