In February 1990, I was injured with a C5/6 spinal cord injury. I felt I needed to find a way to stand up, even with the disapproval of my rehab doctor. who did not believe there to be any benefit from standing.
I fired him.
In 1993 I met the owner of The Standing Wheelchair Company and purchased my first Superstand standing wheelchair.
We have been friends ever since.
Just like most PER4MAXers out there, she's an adaptive sports enthusiast and has tried many different sports, but found her passion in wheelchair basketball. She got involved six years ago, when she saw her current team Miami Valley Raptors doing an exhibition game at an expo. "
As soon as their game was over, I went up to them and asked what I had to do to try out for the team.
After my spinal cord injury in 1973 my biggest fear and concern was not getting my legs back. Sounds weird? I was told early on by a hospital acute care aid that I probably would neither be able to have kids nor walk again. He spoke out of turn and my father later had that guy pinned up against the wall for telling me that. Well, I was certainly crushed by the news, like my spinal cord. My foxhole prayer to my God was that if he was going to take my legs, please ‘Lord let me have children!" I prayed this over and over as I laid in my hospital bed at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in Southern California. Why I felt that way back then, I’m still not sure. I had a constant vision of being a father, having a beautiful wife and become a parent and yes, even a grandparent at the age of 19. So, after my 4 month stay in prison, aka rehab lol I was turned loose on the world with a new life in front of me. A life I was petrified and uncertain about. In the prison rehab, I was safe and protected. I didn’t want to leave as I had no confidence at all and especially with girls or women.
I began wheelchair bowling in 2004 as a recreational activity. Little did I know how this sport would help build health/wellness and most importantly community within my life. I joined the American Wheelchair Bowling Association (AWBA) after being a spectator at the 2005 Las Vegas Invitational and became a lifetime member in 2012. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed bowling in as many tournaments as possible across the country. While serving on the Board of Directors with the AWBA, I have developed a strong appreciation for the sport of bowling, as well as the competition, relationships, and opportunities the AWBA provides.
Some of you might remember the time when we ran a photo contest, but most of you probably won't! Back in 2014, we decided to organize a photo contest with the theme, Adapt.Believe.Compete., ABC Medical's tagline, in partnership with our friend Ather Sharif from SCI Video Blog.
Why? Well, why not! But, we had a pretty good reason to do it. As you know, we work with thousands of adaptive athletes across the country, who adapt. believe and compete on a daily basis. We wanted to share a snippet of their lives through photos, because as we all know, "an image is worth a 1,000 words!"
Yes!!! Adaptive cheerleading, in other words, cheerleading in a wheelchair does exist AND IT'S PURE AWESOMENESS. We even have an awesome new name for it: CheerAbility!
