Kyler Ogden only remembers his father being in a wheelchair.
About 25 years ago, Nathan Ogden fell and broke his neck while skiing in Oregon. He was paralyzed from the waist down. During his recovery, he contracted pneumonia and returned to the hospital. While there, he fell off an X-ray table and broke his neck a second time, resulting in paralysis from the chest down.
When Kyler was 16, his mother had an idea. She wanted to do more to impact the world, believing her family’s story could inspire change.
“We were going to ride bikes to raise money to take wheelchairs to Mexico to people who needed them. So that's how that started,” Kyler Ogden said.
About a year after the fundraiser, Kyler's parents established a full-time nonprofit to continue the work.
Over the last eight years, they have visited more than nine countries and delivered more than 5,000 wheelchairs, making three to four trips a year with about 200 wheelchairs per trip.
Since returning from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Argentina, Kyler has become the director of international affairs, working with partners to distribute wheelchairs.
He also serves as the lead translator on Spanish-speaking trips. Kyler said these experiences have shaped his worldview.
“I have so many opportunities and so many blessings, and because of that, I'm just super grateful for the position that I've been put in," he said. "I want to help others who haven't been as fortunate, whether it's that they live in a different country and they've never been given anything, or they live here and they just don't have the same opportunities that I do."
Kyler said his experiences have deeply affected his faith.
One of his favorite memories involves a man he met during his mission. While serving in Argentina, Kyler and his companion met Jose, who had lost his sight and a leg to diabetes.
Kyler baptized Jose but had to leave the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned more than a year later and promised Jose he would bring him a proper wheelchair.
Six months later, Kyler and his family traveled to Jose’s home. Because Jose had no phone, they had no way to communicate their arrival. They found Jose waiting, and they were able to deliver the chair.
“I think that one of the biggest takeaways is that God reaches all of his children throughout the whole world and that he loves each one of them,” Kyler Ogden said.
Kyler hopes to remain connected to the nonprofit. While he isn't sure of his long-term role, he knows it will always be part of his life because of the impact it has had on those he serves and on himself.