CENTRALIA, Wash. — For Braden Allee, 22, life's journey has become an uphill climb, to be taken one step at a time.
"You take it one breath at a time," his mother Bonnie Allee said. "One minute at a time. And we had to learn to do that."
James and Bonnie Allee say, in his teens, their son became obsessed with longboarding.
"If he was talking about anything it had to do with longboarding," James said.
"He was either talking about it, doing it, or planning what he was going to be doing in the future with it," Bonnie added.
But then in May of 2019, Braden went for a downhill ride that nearly killed him
"He got speed wobbles from underneath his board, where the board came out from under him," James said. "And then he took his tumbles."
"He flipped head over feet multiple times," Bonnie said.
His helmet saved Braden's life. Barely. At one point doctors gave him a 10% chance of survival.
"He had to learn how to walk," James said. "He had to learn how to talk."
"He had to learn how to eat, to chew, to swallow," Bonnie added.
The worst day of his life involved a skateboard, but Braden still wanted to be a part of the skating community.
"It's such a loving sport," Braden said. "I mean obviously like like it didn't love me back."
Braden's recovery has been slow. He's been in and out of hospitals and spent a lot of the past year watching TV from the couch. His parents wanted to give their son something to look forward to. They asked Centralia's city council to lease them an empty building across the street from the skate park so Braden could turn it into a skateboard shop.
Councilmember Susan Althauser and city manager Rob Hill were at the meeting.
"There was so much energy in the room," Althauser said. "The whole chamber was full of Braden's supporters."
At one point James Braden asked everyone supporting Braden to raise their hands. Almost every hand shot up.
"And Braden had this big smile on his face," Bonnie remembered. "He still talks about how everybody raised their hand, you know? That was so cool."
"All of us voted in favor," Althauser said.
The city agreed to lease the building to Braden for just a hundred dollars a month.
"We didn't expect the city to offer us the building for such a low amount," Bonnie said.
"There were a few tears shed in there," Hill said. "That was one of the better council meeting I can recall."
Kraken Boardshop is now up and operating. His parents are around to help, but the business is Braden's baby.
"This feels fantastic because like, because like, it just gives me so much optimism and pride, but it also gives me like hope," Braden said.
He often stutters in his sentences and walks with a limp. The shop sponsors longboard riders including some featured in the video below.
All of the colorful boards and wheels behind the counter could remind Allee of what went wrong in his life, but on the wall of the shop is a framed reminder of everything that's gone right. It's the front page of The Chronicle with the headline, "After Traumatic Injury, Centralia Resident Gets A Shot At Skate Shop."
"I just feel like so loved and like so a part of this community," Braden said.
"Giving him something to wake up to every single day, that's enough for me," Bonnie said.
Kraken Boardshop is open 12 to 6 p.m. every day of the week except Monday and Tuesday. It's located at 313 Lowe St., Centralia, WA 98531
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