Deserae Turner to ride ‘Demon Machine’ in Saturday’s Cruise-in Parade (with audio and video)

LOGAN—The Demon Machine is a one-of-a-kind cross terrain vehicle designed for speed. Team Demon, comprised of Trevor Erickson, Tyler Erickson, Jack Hopkin and Cory Field, is “addicted” to fine-tuning and racing the machine, traveling to exhibition races throughout the Intermountain West to test its limits.

They’ve also become “addicted” to helping individuals and families whose personal limits have been tested. They call their service <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/projectagainsttheodds/?pnref=story”>“Project Against the Odds,”</a> and the new friends they make, said Trevor Erickson, are nothing short of heroes.

“We’re trying to do some good loving this impossible dream,” Erickson said. “The machine becomes a delivery device. It gets people’s attention to help us recognize the true heroes among us and share their inspiring stories.”

On Friday and Saturday, June 30-July 1, Project Against the Odds will honor Deserae Turner and her family. Residents of Amalga, the Turners’ lives were changed forever in February when young Deserae was shot in the head and left for dead in a dry canal near Sky View High School. After spending more than two months in Primary Children’s Medical Center, Turner was released from the hospital on April 20, just four days before her 15th birthday.

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Teaming up with the <a href=”http://www.cachevalleycruisein.net/”>2017 Cache Valley Cruise-In</a>, Team Demon will join the annual event with a special tribute to Deserae. Throughout the car show on Friday and Saturday, the Demon Machine will be on display at the Cache County Fairgrounds, along with information about Deserae’s courageous journey. When the parade begins along Logan’s Main Street on Saturday evening, the Demon will become what Erickson calls her “chariot,” looping the parade route as Deserae greets friends with “high-fives” and stops at specific locations to collect gifts for a special grab bag being designed to surprise her. The rest of the Turner family will ride along in side by side RZR ATVs provided by <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/protechpf/”>ProTech Performance</a>.

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“We’re super excited for Deserae and her family to hang out with us,” said Erickson. “Project Against the Odds is about people doing more than average, and they are definitely heroes.”

“Most true heroes,” Erickson explained, “they go unnoticed. In fact, 100 percent of the time so far with my experience, they don’t know they are heroes. Deserae and her family fit that bill perfectly. If you ask them if they’re heroes, they’re going to tell you, ‘No,’ but they’re doing something that very few people can do, which is face an incredible life challenge but do it optimistically with a lot of forgiveness. They’re kind, they’re gentle and they’re incredibly happy. To me, that’s a perfect hero.”

Team Demon will also host a barbecue for the Turner family on Saturday. In the near future, they hope to formally establish a foundation to allow Project Against the Odds to benefit more of “the heroes among us,” and they appreciate the support of their families, sponsors and friends.

“The first time we did this was in 2011 or 2012 during the <a href=”http://bitd.com/”>“Vegas to Reno Race”,</a> Erickson said. “We were getting a lot of attention and I told our group, ‘Gol, we ought to be using this for some good. People are paying attention, and we have no objectives at this point.’”

Team Demon certainly has an objective this weekend, to give Deserae Turner and her family an experience they’ll never forget on a machine worth remembering—not only for its speed, but also for the heart of the team that designed it.

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