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After 100 hours of dedication and determination, 16-year-old Daniella- Jade Lowe has become the first paraplegic to complete the high school training motorbike club.

Daniella-Jade, who attends Berkeley Institute, has successfully completed Project Ride, which is the island's version of drivers' education for high school students.

The programme is available to all high school students - both public and private - to give them confidence as a motorbike operator. They also benefit from a discount on the cost of their insurance.

It typically takes 12 hours to complete, but due to the physical challenges of Daniella-Jade, who is known as DJ by her friends, she ended up putting in 100 hours of hard work.

Premier Ewart Brown, who is also Minister of Tourism and Transport, presented her with her Project Ride certificate at a press conference yesterday.

Dr. Brown said: "It's a significant accomplishment on her part. I am proud to present Miss Lowe with this certificate in honour of her accomplishment.

"Project Ride is a critical teaching tool for our young people, teaching them in practice and in theory, how to operate their vehicles safely on Bermuda's roads.

He added: "However this project is not mandatory and our compliance rate among young people is around 50 percent. I'd like to see that number go higher. So I'm making an appeal to parents of teenagers to strongly encourage their children to enroll in Project Ride."

Dr. Brown went on to say Project Ride instructors Racheal Robinson and Chris Swan were instrumental in Daniella-Jade's learning process. He thanked them for the special attention they paid to Daniella-Jade.

He said: "It's clear that both of them went the extra mile to ensure that their pupil received the proper tutelage despite the challenges presented."[[In-content Ad]]

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