Christine Cheesman is a homeschool mother, an artwork instructor and a brand new determine skater. Regardless of all these roles, she has determined to tackle one other: Skates of Hope founder.
Cheesman, who lives in North Carolina, was at an ice skating rink when she discovered what occurred to American Airways Flight 5342 when it collided with a U.S. Military helicopter within the night hours of Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C., killing all 67 onboard when the 2 plane plunged into the Potomac River.
Twenty-eight of the victims from flight 5342 have been “members of the figure skating community,” the Olympics web site states. Eleven have been younger athletes, 4 have been coaches and 13 have been relations.
“As a mom, it took my breath away,” she mentioned about studying of the aircraft crash. “Even now, thinking about it, it’s really difficult to try to understand what the parents are feeling and the families that have lost everything.”
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Cheesman’s 12-year-old daughter grew to become hooked on determine skating following a college discipline journey, and the mother hits the ice, as properly.
“Being on the ice, it’s freedom,” she mentioned. “It’s beautiful. Each day I get on the ice after this tragedy, it just has like a renewed sense of purpose for me and for my daughter, as well.”
“I think it’s difficult for her to understand,” Cheesman mentioned. “I mean, these are people that she looked up to online and followed their Instagram stories.”
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Skates of Hope presents skates in honor of these misplaced on flight 5342. Cheesman makes use of Instagram to assist her take within the donations earlier than sending them out to skaters in want.
“The skaters who are receiving the skates are just so grateful,” she mentioned, including that coaches are reaching out to her to bless athletes who’ve fallen on laborious occasions by motivating them with a free pair of skates.
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Images of victims following the collision between an American Airways jet and a U.S. Black Hawk helicopter.
Cheesman’s objective is to make Skates of Hope a nonprofit group, and any financial donations that are available in would have the ability to go to the households who misplaced family members within the D.C. aircraft crash.
Anybody who needs to donate skates or be the recipient of a pair ought to attain out to her by way of Instagram.
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The D.C. aircraft crash was the deadliest within the U.S. since Nov. 12, 2001, when a jet slammed right into a New York Metropolis neighborhood simply after takeoff, killing all 260 folks on board and 5 on the bottom.
The Related Press contributed to this report.
