Its speed can be dialed toward the icon of a turtle for slow, or to a rabbit.

And just as the scooter's previous owner Tim Rau would have preferred, sixth-grader Daniel Lange has it cranked to rabbit.

Just two school days into having an electric scooter bestowed to him by Rau's parents Charlie and Diana Lynn, Lange already has command of its operation.

“This is forward, this is backward,” he demonstrated in the East Grand Middle School hallway after lunch on Wednesday. “This is for the headlight.”

He then honked the horn, a feature that probably comes in handy when cruising among students between classes.

Before the scooter, it took Lange about 5-7 minutes to walk with crutches from his sixth-grade classroom to parts of the school such as the band room where he plays base drum, according to Principal Jeff Verosky. With the scooter, he now can arrive ahead of his classmates.

First phys-ed class

This week with the aid of the scooter, Lange attended his first-ever physical education class, keeping up with fellow students as he did three laps around the gymnasium.

“I can feel the air in my hair,” he told Counseling Secretary Amanda Cross.

“It's opened a whole new door for him,” Cross said on Wednesday.

Daniel's limitations stem from moderate cerebral palsy, which he was diagnosed with when he was 18 months old.

Born at 2 pounds, 7 ounces, Daniel's last surgery on his legs to loosen tendons was two years ago.

But Lange's mother said he has had a difficult time recovering from a procedure that left him considerably weaker.

He has since been dragging one of his feet and has developed a limp.

On crutches since first grade, the young boy has only known struggle in getting around.

The scooter changed all that.

“I don't get tired all the time from long walks,” Daniel said of long distances in the middle school.

Passed down to new hallways

“If it could do another kid in this community some good, we wanted to see that happen,” Diana Lynn said, “knowing how the scooter had helped Tim.”

Tim Rau had A-T, a rare genetic imbalance disorder Ataxia-Telangiectasia, and relied on a similar red scooter to get around at the high school.

Community members pitched in to buy that scooter for Rau in a “Rims for Tim” campaign, which turned into an enduring Grand County Children's Fund.

Tim lovingly became known as the kamikaze scooter driver in the hallways of his school, where students often fled out of the way rather than be run over.

After years of driving the scooter, however, it was beyond wear and tear, and eventually the Children's Fund was tapped for a black replacement scooter Tim would have driven in the high school hallways during his senior year.

“He wanted the red one because it was red,” Diana Lynn said. “He was resisting the black, also because it has four wheels instead of three, and he couldn't do any of his antics on it.”

Yet, to his parents' devastation and that of an entire community, Rau would never have the chance to ride the stable black scooter at school.

A whitewater rafting accident last summer cut 17-year-old Rau's life short.

New wheels driven with care

The Raus said they saw no other avenue but to pass on Tim's newer scooter to another child in the community.

“He loves that thing already,” Daniel's mother said. “I'm not shocked, I knew he would like it.

“We've been blessed,” she continued. “For someone to lose their child in such a tragic way and then generously give away something that they treasured so deeply, it just brings tears to my eyes,” she said.

“I consider them family now.”

Daniel's sister Gina, 11, the second of three children in the family, has downs syndrome and autism, and Diane suffers from a disease that renders a low blood count.

With one income in the family and faced with these medical challenges, the Langes would not have been able to afford to buy Daniel a scooter, Diane said.

With Daniel's first year in middle school, his mother had worried how it would turn out for him.

So far, the scooter has made all the difference.

He no longer relies on other students and staff to carry his backpack or push his wheelchair.

“For him to be so independent... it's probably a tremendous weight off of him,” his mother said.

And he's already learned to tell fellow students who hope to hitch a ride on the scooter that it's “not a toy.”

On Tuesday, Principal Verosky issued Daniel an official Scooters Driver's License. Daniel understands that if he drives recklessly or lets others ride it, his license could be suspended — a sanction that Tim endured one time for letting others ride, according to Diana Lynn.

“It's life-changing,” said Superintendent Nancy Karas, who first contacted the Langes on behalf of the Raus.

“I am sure this was difficult for Diana and Charlie, but we know they are always looking out for others.”

- Tonya Bina can be reached at 970-887-3334 ext. 19603 or e-mail tbina@skyhidailynews.com.