Thousands To Participate In Ride And Walk To Benefit Kids With Limb, Joint Deformities

COCKEYSVILLE, Md. (WJZ)-- Peddling for a good cause. This weekend, hundreds will gather in Cockeysville for the Save-A-Limb Ride.

Monique Griego spoke with a little girl who benefitted from the cause and is now giving back.

The Save-A-Limb organization helped a remarkable Baltimore County girl save her leg, and on Thursday, friends and fellow classmates of Alyssa Rhine rallied behind her to support her cause.

Every tiny step six-year-old Alyssa Rhine takes is the result of a lot of hard work. And with the help of her entire school, the first-grader used all her strength to support those who gave her the ability to walk.

"It's amazing to see how they rallied around their own student and supported her. It was immense. I was in tears," Alyssa Rhine's mother Colleen Rhine said.

Alyssa Rhine was born with a bone deficiency that almost led to her leg being amputated. Colleen Rhine credits the doctors at Baltimore's Sinai Hospital and the Rubin Institute for saving it.

"They were really nice," Alyssa Rhine said of her doctors.

"With the work that they've done, the expectation is that she'll get to walk as everybody else does," Colleen Rhine said.

This weekend, hundreds of people will gather in Cockeysville for the Save-A-Limb Ride and Walk, an event that benefits patients like Alyssa Rhine.

"It's probably one of the most amazing events in Baltimore County. It honors kids with limb and joint deformities," Destiny Lee, Alyssa Rhine's friend, said.

In preparation for the ride, Alyssa Rhine's classmates gathered for their own walk in her honor on Thursday.

"It made me feel like I wanted to go hug her," one little girl said.

The students even saved up their lunch money and gathered donations totaling $2,200. Alyssa Rhine tells WJZ she was happy.

"That all my friends are helping me by like, supporting me," she said.

The Save-A-Limb Ride will be held Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville.

Save-A-Limb will use money from the event to help patients pay for surgeries and medical equipment.