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Nebraska boy gets custom-built Star Wars X-Wing fighter Halloween costume for his wheelchair

Posted at 12:04 PM, Oct 29, 2019
and last updated 2019-10-29 13:04:18-04

OMAHA, Neb. — Five-year-old Raylan Taylor will be flying high in his innovative costume this Halloween, thanks to a local non-profit.

Walkin' and Rollin' made Ryalan his own X-wing fighter — the same spacecraft flown by Poe Dameron, the best fighter in the Star Wars universe.

Jaylan's mother Jocelyn Taylor says her son was born with Joubert Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that impacts his fine motor skills. So, to get around, Raylan uses a wheelchair, which can make costumes and trick-or-treating a difficult task.

"I think it's easy for kids and parents alike to feel a little bit restricted by what they can do for a costume, especially if they're in a wheelchair, Jocelyn Taylor said. "Having something like this makes the chair actually part of the costume."

Walkin' and Rollin ' creates Halloween costumes for kids in walkers and wheelchairs.

Raylan's fighter jet costume took nearly 150 hours to build. He showed it off on Sunday, at Trunk or Treating, an event put on by Children's Respite Care Center (CRCC) in Omaha to knock down barriers for children with disabilities.

"If you go out on Halloween and you go to the houses, think about going up to a door. There is going to be stairs that aren't going to be accessible, there is going to be kind of that separation for the child," CRCC CEO Anne Constantino said.

Not only is Trunk or Treating removing obstacles, it's starting a conversation with a younger generation.

"It's nice. It's not like a bunch of stairs. It's just flat smooth surface,so they can come up and say trick-or-treat," Adeline Grot said. "It's not just someone getting the candy for them."

These kids say Halloween is for everyone.

They add the focus should be on eating candy and wearing a creative costume, one just like Raylan's.

The non-profit says they wish they could accept all application to build costumes, but can't until they find more volunteers.

This story was originally published by Kent Luetzen on KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska.