Redefining Disability: Recent Episodes
Move United
Let’s be real—people are unfamiliar with people with disabilities. At Move United, we believe sports have the power to change the world, pushing people further and bringing people closer. Through adaptive sports, we show what people with disabilities are capable of, fuel candid conversations, and incite the action it takes to build a world where everyone’s included.
Redefining Disability is a podcast that focuses on the power of sport. Move United is looking forward to sharing how sports have made it possible for our nation’s top adaptive athletes, training tips from the best coaches and program leaders, and news on latest technology, equipment, and trends in the adaptive sports industry.
Born with spina bifida after his dad was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Josh Turek overcame 21 surgeries by the age of 12. He found the game of wheelchair basketball and would represent the U.S. at four Paralympics, including two gold medals. He currently serves as a State Legislator in Iowa and is currently running to represent his home state in the United State Senate.
Johnnie Williams enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving two years and one tour in Iraq. He would sustain an injury as the result of a Humvee accident in 2003 and would be introduced to adaptive sports as part of his recovery. He would make his way to a Paralympic Sport Camp hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma, a Move United member organization and take up the field sports of javelin and discuss. After medaling at the 2015 Parapan American Games, Johnnie would go on to compete at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. Now he is a coach with Oklahoma Youth Parasports.
At age 2, Amie Day sustained a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a car accident. Discovering wheelchair racing at 12 gave her a sense of purpose and freedom. Starting with Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, or GLASA, Amie quickly rose through the ranks winning multiple medals at the 1998 and 1999 World Games. She would then compete for Team USA at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney at just 17 years old. Amie now serves as a para track coach and lifelong advocate for adaptive athletics.
Nico Calabria is a four-time U.S. Men's Amputee Soccer Team captain, board member of the American Amputee Soccer Association, and founder of the New England Amputee Soccer Association. An above-the-knee amputee who joined the national team in 2011, Nico has spent more than a decade not only competing at the highest levels of the sport but actively building the infrastructure around it — helping grow the domestic program from a single national team with no grassroots base to a network of programs operating across the country. He sees amputee soccer as one of the most accessible adaptive sports in the world.
Crystal Skahan is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire's Department of Recreation Management and Policy. In addition, Crystal serves as the Education and Training Director at Northeast Passage, a Move United member organization affiliated with UNH’s College of Health and Human Services. A practitioner-scholar with expertise in adaptive sport and therapeutic recreation, they focus on accessibility in recreation. Crystal is involved with the American Canoe Association Universal Paddling Committee, so we are chatting today about adaptive paddleboarding.
Mia Busk grew up in Alabama as the youngest of seven siblings, playing soccer, swimming, gymnastics, and more from an early age — almost always the only athlete with a limb difference on her teams. Born without her left arm, she found her way to amputee soccer at 18 through an unlikely chain of connections and is now a goalkeeper on the U.S. Women's Amputee Soccer team. She competed internationally with the team in Colombia, where the U.S. earned second place, and has since become an advocate for the sport, using social media to raise awareness and encouraging fellow amputees to give it a try. Off the field, Mia is pursuing a degree in Industrial Systems Engineering, with aspirations to start an amputee soccer team closer to her home in Birmingham.
Joe Moore is the founder of Adaptive Expeditions, a Move United member organization based in Charleston, South Carolina. A lower extremity amputee since 2002, Moore drew on his personal experience navigating a gap in accessible sports programming to build a program centered on surfing, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding for people of all abilities. He has also helped lead American Canoe Association's adaptive paddling program, which offers more than 16 courses annually. His approach emphasizes both athletic development and the restorative value of time on the water.
Dr. Kiersten McCartney is an exercise physiologist, sports performance specialist, and a founder of the Arena Adaptive Football Club, Delaware's amputee soccer team. She serves as sports performance specialist for the American Amputee Soccer Association and has conducted research at international competitions.
Ryan Davis is a T54 wheelchair track and field athlete whose competitive drive was shaped early — after a spinal cord injury at age six led him to wheelchair basketball, and eventually to his true passion in racing. Now a nationally recognized Para High School All American, Ryan competes in the 400 meters and 1500, trains five to six days a week year-round, and has built a 2026 schedule that includes his first international competitions in Mexico and Switzerland on a path toward the LA 2028 Paralympics. His long-term goal is to compete collegiately at the University of Illinois, earn a kinesiology degree, and eventually coach para sports.
Jesi Stracham is a trailblazing entrepreneur, speaker, and fierce advocate dedicated to transforming lives through her innovative ventures. As the co-owner of Freedom Longevity and Wellness LKN, she pioneers cutting-edge therapies that redefine holistic health and recovery. Jesi also co-developed the Wheel With Me Adapt Fit app, empowering wheelchair users to reclaim their independence through fitness. Through her Wheel With Me Foundation, she drives life-changing empowerment programs and hosts an inspiring summer camp for adult wheelchair users. She is the author Power in the Roll: A Life at Full Throttle After Spinal Cord Injury.
Three months after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Joe Oppold had a cerebral aneurysm. Instead of reporting to OBC, or Officer Basic Course, he wound up in the ICU. Just a year later though, he was able to go skiing with some fellow disabled veterans, which he still enjoys doing today as well as other activities. The Move United Warfighters Ambassador wrote a book,” That’s a Great Haircut” about his experience.
Amanda Warren served with distinction for 26 years as a Major in the Army, specializing in Logistics Management. Transitioning from military to civilian life brought unique challenges, but Warren found the medical care needed for both physical and mental healing. She was introduced to adaptive sports through a networking event sponsored by Adaptive Adventures, a Move United member organization. Since that pivotal moment, Warren has actively participated in track and field, cycling, and pickleball. As a Move United Warfighters Ambassador, Warren has built strong relationships within the veteran and athlete community, creating lasting bonds of belonging and unity.
Gabriel Cardier is an adaptive athlete, entrepreneur, and amputee advocate who lost his left leg in a 2014 motorcycle accident in Los Angeles. His athletic achievements include completing the Las Vegas half marathon and summiting Ecuador's Cotopaxi volcano with Range of Motion Project (ROMP), where his team became the first all-amputee expedition to successfully reach the summit. Drawing from his MBA background and personal experience navigating the challenges of amputation recovery, Cardier is launching Aurushi, an adaptive apparel company to make functional, stylish apparel for people navigating recovery, prosthetics, or movement challenges.
Katherine Hayes Rodriguez has been a pioneering force in adaptive skiing for nearly five decades. Beginning in 1976 as a volunteer with a program for visually impaired skiers in the Tahoe Basin, she became instrumental in professionalizing adaptive ski instruction across the United States. Katherine was an early leader of an organization that is now known as Achieve Tahoe, Move United’s first chapter, and served as a lead author of the first adaptive technical manual. She led clinics across the country and her work was crucial to the Professional Ski Instructors Association's adoption of adaptive skiing as an official discipline in 1986.
Marine Corps Veteran Gabby Wake was injured when a vehicle hit her motorcycle at a red light, resulting in a traumatic brain injury and damage to her back. Through the Wounded Warrior Battalion, she tried numerous adaptive sports. Gabby would medal at the DOD Warrior Games and Invictus Games in track and field as well as cycling events. But it is the sport of sled hockey that has really clicked and she is the goalie for the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Kim Seevers has spent nearly three decades in winter adaptive sports, including serving as the sighted guide for an alpine ski racer who competed in the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi Russia. Later that year, she developed the first bobsled and skeleton development camp for athletes with disabilities in Lake Placid, NY and has created a premier grassroots program for developing elite para bobsled and skeleton athletes that is now a decade old. Kim holds an MS in Performance Assessment from Penn State and a BS in Health, Physical Education, and Recreation from Slippery Rock University.
Josh Pauls was born without a tibia in both legs and had them both amputated at 10 months old. At age eight, he would be introduced to the game of sled hockey. Within eight years of first trying out the sport, he was called up to his first world championship team. Pauls made his Paralympic debut at the Paralympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010, where he was the youngest player on the team at 17. He would later serve as captain for the U.S. sled hockey team at the 2018 and 2022 Paralympic Games. Pauls is the only sled hockey player to win four Paralympic gold medals. He is the author of “Lessons Learned: My Journey to the Podium” and hopes to be a professional hockey coach when his sled hockey career is finished.
Pearl Outlaw's journey with vision loss began at age nine with a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Now 27, she's experienced the full progression of RP—from night blindness in childhood to using a cane in high school, to a rapid transition in 2018 that left her almost completely without vision within months. Her introduction to Nordic skiing came in 2019 while attending the Carroll Center for the Blind in Boston. After taking a semester off college to learn how to navigate life without sight, she got involved with New England Ski for Light. The following year, she reached out to BethAnn Chamberlain, the US Para Nordic development coach and is pursuing that sport, She is also attending her third The Hartford Ski Spectacular in Breckenridge, Colorado this month.
Bob Balk is a 6X Paralympian and Paralympic medalist, representing the U.S. in both summer and winter games for over three decades. He has competed in Nordic skiing, the pentathalon, and para canoe. He has chaired the IPC Athletes Council. Now, he's racing down ice tracks at 70 miles per hour with a singular goal: getting para bobsled recognized as an official Paralympic sport.
Gene Calantoc joined the U.S. Army as a Combat Engineer in 2011 and deployed to Afghanistan in 2012-2013 with the 101st Screaming Eagles. A motorcycle accident in March 2020 led to his medical retirement and it was during his recovery at Fort Sam Houston when Gene discovered adaptive sports. He has competed at the DOD Warrior Games and plays with the Texas Parasport wheelchair basketball team. As a Move United Warfighters Ambassador, he is interested in helping other veterans be active in sports and recreation as well.
Shawn Meredith attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was a varsity athlete on their world-renowned wheelchair track team. He earned numerous national championships, national records, and four world records while at Illinois, and represented Team USA twice at the Paralympic Games in 1992 and 1996, winning a total of 5 gold and one silver medals. Shawn also played wheelchair rugby for the Fighting Illini, the first collegiate team to qualify for the National Championship tournament. He was a player and assistant coach for the Texas Stampede. This past July, Shawn was inducted into the National Adaptive Sports Hall of Fame.
On October 23, 2005, Army Sergeant Bryan Anderson was nine months into his second deployment to Iraq when his vehicle went over an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The Purple Heart recipient and triple amputee has always been an athlete, but after his rehabilitation at Walter Reed he got away from sports a bit, doing stunt work, acting, writing a book, and other activities. But wheelchair rugby spoke to him, and now he is actively playing that game.
After studying occupational therapy in college, Dawn Hameline went to work with the VA and is still involved with summer and winter adaptive sports clinics for disabled veterans. She is now a Clinical Education and Outreach Specialist with Mobius Mobility. So we chat with her about the iBOT, a unique and versatile mobility device.
Barbi Baum competed in swimming and track and field at the international level in the 1980’s and graduated from the University of Illinois in 1982. She was president of their Disabled Sports Organization and a Paralympic athlete. She has been a disabled athlete most of her life and has shared her time and talents endlessly encouraging those with disabilities to participate. She was one of the founding members of Three Rivers Adaptive Sports in 1989 and was recently inducted into the Adaptive Sports Hall of Fame for her contributions.
Darian Haynes is an adaptive athlete who competes in para snowboarding, surfing, and skateboarding. Growing up surfing in Hawaii, she was a fixture on Team Hawaii and then Team USA, earning 8 individual & team World Championship medals. She has competed locally and internationally at over 30 surfing events. After moving to the mainland in 2021, she relocated to Silverthorn Colorado and began training in para snowboard for the 2026 Paralympics with Adaptive Action Sports. She is currently a member of the USA Para Snowboard Team has been ranked third in the world. And through AAS she also expanded into the competitive world of Para Skateboarding.
At age 17, Noah Elliott had his left leg amputated above the knee. He would learn about Paralympic snowboarding through attending a camp for children with cancer. Although the Paralympic gold medalist is known for his success on the snow, we chat with him about his passion for skateboarding as well.
Natalie Grazian has a congenital limb difference, meaning her right arm did not fully develop before birth. Exercising has always been a passion and that prompted her to find modifications to help her do the activities she cares about. But when it came to some yoga positions and weight-bearing exercises, her limb difference presented a unique challenge. So the University of Washington graduate student worked with a prosthetic company to design a new type of prosthetic arm that will benefit fellow yoga fans across the world.
Pete Peterson, aka Pickleball Pete as he is known at GLASA, is a certified pickleball instructor and helps lead the adaptive pickleball program at Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, a Move United member organization in the Chicago area. So we chat with him about the sport.
Daniel Gale is a founder and current executive director of Adaptive Action Sports, a Move United member organization based in Colorado. He has been a sports organizer for ESPN and the Summer X Games, the Adaptive Skateboard Park Jam, Adaptive Sno-Cross, and more. He also serves as the general manager for para skateboarding with USA Skateboarding.
Justin Phongsavanh made his international debut for the United States at the 2019 Parapan American Games, where he won a gold medal in javelin. He represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning a bronze medal. In June 2021, during the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials for Track and Field, Justin set the javelin throw world record with a distance of 33.29 meters and is aiming for gold in Paris 2024.
3X Paralympian Patty Cisneros Prevo, who won two gold medals as part of the national women’s wheelchair basketball team and is a disability advocate focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, has published a new children’s book called “Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes.” She is on a book tour now and will be signing copies at The Hartford Nationals on Sunday, July 9th.
Michael Rosenkrantz is the Executive Director of So Cal Adaptive Sports, a Move United member organization. He has coached wheelchair basketball at the collegiate level, serving as an Assistant Coach with the University of Arizona women’s team and is a Level II Certified Archery instructor. We are here today to talk about adaptive pickleball, another sport he coaches.
Born with spina bifida, Hannah Dederick was abandoned at the steps of a hospital in China and adopted from an orphanage by a family in the United States. Through Shriners Children’s Hospital, she learned about wheelchair track in 2015 and connected with ParaSport Spokane, a Move United member organization in Washington. Having already competed at one Paralympics, Hannah is looking for more in the future.
Dr. Mary Hums is a professor of Sport Administration at the University of Louisville. She has been active in the Olympic and Paralympic movement since the 1996 Summer Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. She has co-authored the textbook for sports management and co-edited Women as Leaders in Sport: Impact and Influence. Her other scholarly work includes contributions to The Journal of Sport and Social Issues, Adaptive Physical Activity Quarterly and more. Her main research interest is policy development in sport organizations, especially in regards to inclusion of people with disabilities and also sport and human rights. She was a co-contributor to Article 30.5 of the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and helped to establish the ESPYs for Best Male and Female Athletes with a Disability.
Cheryl Angelelli sustained a spinal cord injury from a diving accident in 1983. 15 years later, she took up swimming again and would become a 3x Paralympian and 4X Paralympic medalist in the sport. After retiring from swimming, Cheryl turned to wheelchair ballroom dancing. In addition to her work with Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, a Move United member organization, she travels the country to promote dance to other individuals with disabilities.
Rebecca Johnston was just beginning her freshman year at Whitman College, where she was planning to play volleyball at the Division III school. But bone cancer would impact that plan. After an attempt to salvage her limb she would decide to have her leg amputated above the knee. She is now focusing her attention on para snowboarding and hopes to represent Team USA at the 2026 Winter Paralympic Games.
Marine Staff Sergeant John Edward Heath was struck by a vehicle on New Year's Day in 2016. After 12 limb salvage surgeries he decided to amputate his left leg. Good luck keeping up with him, as he is an elite athlete in weightlifting, crossfit, track and field, and too many other things to even mention here. He has earned a Master's Degree in Nonprofit Management, is training for the 2024 Paralympic Games, and a Move United Warfighters Ambassador.
Jonathon Stone was a three sport athlete in high school. After being severely injured in the Marine Corps, he thought his days as an athlete were over. Then he discovered adaptive sports through Team River Runner, a Move United member organization. Now Jon is enjoying the sport he loves as a member of the Cleveland Browns Wheelchair Football Team.
Steph “The Hammer” Roach has been motivating herself and others her entire life. Born with cerebral palsy, she started into sports when she was three years old. She now operates Staying Driven Fitness, a live, interactive, online fitness program for the adaptive population. She has recently written a book, “Driven,” about her journey.
By day, Jason Sfire is president of The Fidelity Group, a family owned commercial real estate development company in Illinois. When he is not running a business, he is playing wheelchair tennis with the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, or GLASA, which is a Move United member organization based in the Chicago Area. He also happens to serve as the organization’s board president and coaches the Chicago Bears Wheelchair Football team.
A retired military veteran, Ty Campbell used golf as a form of physical therapy after suffering an injury while deployed with the United States Coast Guard. Ty uses his passion for golf to create a fun learning environment while concentrating on the fundamentals to increase confidence. As a Move United Warfighters Ambassador and PGA professional, Ty has dedicated himself to showing that no matter your skill level or abilities, everyone can enjoy a day out on the course.
Jacob Tyree serves as a training coordinator for Move United, overseeing the management of VA Adaptive Sports Training Grant funded programs. He brings with him a vast amount of experience in the adaptive sport space as an athlete, coach, and sport professional. Jacob played collegiate wheelchair basketball at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has international coaching experience in Japan as well as Peru, and founded the Roanoke Stars Wheelchair Basketball program in Virginia.
Retired Army Staff Sergeant Rico Roman had his left leg amputated above the knee after being wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving his third tour in Iraq in February 2007. A Purple Heart recipient, Rico was introduced to sled hockey in 2008 by Operation Comfort, a Move United member organization in San Antonio, TX. He has represented Team USA and played for the National Sled Hockey Team during the past three Winter Paralympic Games, winning three straight gold medals. Although he announced his retirement back in July, he is not walking away from the sport.
Alyssa Gialamas was encouraged to try swimming by coach Glen O'Sullivan. Once she started, she found that she felt free in the water because she did not have to wear braces and was not sitting in a chair. She was born with arthrogryposis, which affects the use of joints and muscles. She began para swimming in 2008 at the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, a Move United member organization based in Illinois. She would represent Team USA at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics. Alyssa founded AMG Fitness to elevate at-home workouts specifically for people with disabilities and leads some online fitness classes through Move United OnDemand.
Lacey Henderson was just nine years old when her leg was amputated above the knee. Although she played various sports growing up, she particularly became fond of cheerleading, earning a scholarship to participate in the sport at the University of Denver. In 2012, she decided to give track and field a try and fell in love with that sport. Four years later, Lacey would represent Team USA at the Paralympic Games in Rio. But sport is just part of her identity. She is completing a masters degree in sports psychology and continues to serve as a disability advocate.
Chris Kaag served in the United States Marine Corps for almost five years. At the age of 21, Chris was diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition affecting his nerve cells and was discharged from the Marine Corps. He began to walk with a cane, then two canes. His condition continued to worsen, and he soon transitioned to a wheelchair.
With new direction and a “don’t quit on me” attitude, Chris founded Corps Fitness in 2004. He has developed programs like IM FIT, a free fitness class for all adaptive children and young adults to practice the fundamentals of exercising together as well as a mentorship program for adaptive athletes and a program geared around his passion for trails. In 2007, he launched the IM ABLE Foundation, with the mission to remove obstacles that prevent people with disabilities from being physically active. In July, Chris was inducted into the Adaptive Sports Hall of Fame for his contributions to the adaptive sports community.
In July 2009, Kevin Mather was on a training ride in the foothills of Los Angeles with a group of friends when he was hit by a truck. His athletic pursuits continued on. Like a story in a book, his athletic career went through various chapters. Early on, he focused on competing in marathons, triathlons, and even Ironman competitions. He would finish first in his category at the L.A. Marathon in 2012 and then finished second that year at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Afterwards, he would pursue alpine skiing and was a member of the U.S. Paralympic ski team. In 2017, he got serious about archery and would win the gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Myranda Mishler was born with spina bifida. Growing up, she played a couple of different sports but really found her calling when she was introduced to wheelchair racing while in high school. She’s now a junior at the University of Arizona and is competing at the college and national level, recently winning six silver medals at Move United Junior Nationals.
US Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva’s unit was among the first to cross the border into Iraq for the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Three hours into the ground war, near Basra, while stepping out of his vehicle, Alva triggered a landmine, throwing him 15 feet that left him with a broken left leg, severely nerve-damaged broken right arm and a badly injured right leg that was later amputated. He was the first American wounded in the war, and the war’s first Purple Heart recipient.
Alva was also among the first warfighters Move United served from Operation Iraq Freedom, learning how to ski and scuba dive . As a member of Move United’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Committee and in his work around the country, Eric has been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community .
Born without a right foot and a severely clubbed left foot, Kim Moore would play various sports as a youth. But then she found golf and realized she could compete in that sport at a high level, earning a scholarship to play collegiate golf at the University of Indianapolis. She is now the head golf coach at Western Michigan University and just won the U.S. Adaptive Open Golf Tournament at Pinehurst.
Rudy Garcia-Tolson endured 15 surgeries by the age of five before telling his parents he'd rather have a double leg amputation...By age 8, he had already become active in swimming, running and triathlons...At that age, he stated that he wanted to compete at the Paralympic Games and eight years later, Rudy made good on his promise when he swam to gold at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Now he is a 5X Paralympian and 5X Paralympic Medalist. In 2009, Rudy also became the world's first double above-knee amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon.
In 2010, Joe Stone nearly died after crashing into a mountain at almost 50 MPH while speed flying, a form of paragliding. The accident left him with a spinal cord injury leaving him paralyzed from the chest down and with impairment in both his hands. Joes’s work has been focused on bridging the gap between people with and without disabilities through outdoor recreation and has traveled the country speaking and serving as an advocate for people with disabilities. He currently serves as the interim director at Teton Adaptive, a Move United member organization.
Mandy Willmore received a scholarship to play basketball at college. While in Hawaii for a tournament, she would become paralyzed while surfing. At first, she wanted nothing to do with wheelchair basketball, but that mindset would eventually change. For the past 2 years Mandy has attended the University of Wisconsin -Whitewater to obtain her MBA and would play for the women’s wheelchair basketball team there. She is now part of the National Team. In addition, she is one of the program managers at GLASA, a Move United member organization in Chicago.
Lauren Haneke-Hopps just graduated from the University of Alabama, earning a master’s degree in exercise and sports science. Not only did she excel as a student, being on the Dean’s List and named as an Academic All-American, but she is an elite wheelchair tennis player, winning several single and double competitions, medaling at at the ITA World Team Cup, and being named a Collegiate National Champion multiple years. Lauren can also be found as one of the instructors for Move United OnDemand, free online fitness platform.
Just two years after a spinal cord injury, David Kiley made the USA National Team in basketball. At his first Paralympic Games in 1976, he would win gold medals in all five of his events, including one in basketball but also four in track. In all, he would represent the US in six Paralympics in three sports (the other being alpine skiing, where he also won gold). During his career, DK became the only player to play wheelchair basketball in four different decades. Kiley went on to coach in three additional Paralympic Games as a part of the wheelchair basketball team and has served as NWBA Commissioner and President.
Steve Martin served in the U.S. Army. After completing his military service, he would become an Arizona State Trooper. Then 9/11 happened. That moment led to him to joining the State Department as part of a team embedded with the military in Afghanistan. During a mission in 2008, Steve would be wounded by an IED. After a year and a half of going through limb salvage, he would have both legs amputated. Sport has been a means to stay active, have fun, and see how far he can push his body.
Catarina Guimaraes is a second-degree black belt, won 2 silver medals at the 2018 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports competition in Ireland, was recently named a CP Soccer World Cup All-Star and has held various national track and field records. And at 18 years old, she is just getting started. We chat with her just before she is set to compete at Move United Junior Nationals presented by The Hartford in Denver, Colorado next month.
Barry Weintraub is an activity-based exercise specialist at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, a Move United member organization based in Minneapolis. He has coached wheelchair softball and basketball. Barry created the wheelchair lacrosse program there and has served on the board of Wheelchair Lacrosse USA. Sow we chat with him about hitting the sticks.
Sam Maddaus is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Two years into his Naval assignment in San Diego and after coming back from deployment, he would be in a motorcycle accident. The injuries would result in a below the knee amputation about a month into his rehabilitation. He was worried he would never be able to box or snowboard again, but five months after his amputation he found himself in Vail and back on a board. At this very moment, he is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,653 mile journey from the U.S. Southern border with Mexico to the U.S. Northern border with Canada.
Daniel Hersh co-founded the Colorado Rolling Mammoth wheelchair lacrosse team in 2011 and has been highly involved ever since. In addition to serving as the team’s captain, he also serves on the board of Wheelchair Lacrosse USA.
Jessie Cloy is a 4X Paralympian in the sport of track and field, earning 7 medals at the Paralympic Games over her career. She first got involved in wheelchair racing through Children’s Lightning Wheels in New Jersey after a car accident. After retiring from competition, she continued to stay involved in adaptive sports as an official, a coach, a volunteer and now coordinates Move United Junior Nationals, an event she competed in just two years after the accident.
Ellen Minzner is the Director of Para High Performance for US Rowing, where she focuses on athlete identification and development. Previously, she served as the Director of Inclusion and Advocacy at Community Rowing, a Move United member organization in Boston, where she and her team of coaches and staff pioneered a model for serving people with disabilities, military veterans, and underserved youth that has become a national standard.
In 1999, Norm Page started working as a volunteer coach with the Buffalo Sabres sled hockey team when his 7 year old son Adam started playing. As president of the program he helped build the first sled accessible rink in Buffalo and over the years would see some of their local players make the USA National Sled Hockey Team, including Adam. For about 12 years, he would serves as the sled hockey representative for USA Hockey, putting on clinics across the country. Now with Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports, he is helping the Move United member organization expand its sports offerings, including the growing sport of wheelchair lacrosse.
Steve Serio started playing wheelchair basketball when he was 14 years old and went on to play at the University of Illinois where he led the team to a national championship. He would play professionally in Germany for a few years and also in four Paralympic Games for Team USA, bringing home back to back gold medals in 2016 and 2020. He is equally interested in the difference he makes off the court as he has made on the court.
Jennifer Fitz-Roy is training with the high performance team at US Rowing and is hoping to make the national team this year. She learned to row at Community Rowing Inc. a Move United member organization based in Boston and now serves as the organization’s manager of para and military programs. Jen is a graduate of Boston College, a mentor to disabled youth, and a fierce advocate for inclusion and disability rights.
Retired U.S. Army Private First Class Orlando Perez became paralyzed as a result of a training accident. One of the first adaptive sports he fell in love with was wheelchair basketball and he had the opportunity to play for the Puerto Rican team at the international stage. Then he discovered alpine skiing and turned his attention to compete in this sport at the elite level, training with the National Ability Center, a Move United member organization in Utah. Orlando made history last month when he became the first athlete to represent Puerto Rico at a Winter Paralympic Games.
Jacob Pacheco is a content creator, entrepreneur, model, speaker, professional surfer, and he also adapts to life with Cerebral Palsy. Jacob’s platform often focuses on empowerment and optimization.
Throughout Jacob's life, he’s faced incredible adversity including bullying, medical setbacks and intense surgeries that left him immobile, abuse, and depression. Despite these challenges, Jacob thrives and founded Prone To Ride, an apparel company and content platform.
Nicole Roundy spent six years as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Snowboard Team, being one of the first athletes to compete in the sport of para snowboarding. She would compete in two Winter Paralympic Games in 2014 and 2018. Now that she is retired from the sport, she has turned her attention to her vocation. Since completing her MBA, she has become an email marketing guru in the corporate sector. Nicole also happens to serve on the board of directors of Move United.
Jim Ewing has been an avid climber most of his life. He would injure his foot during a climbing trip in the Cayman Islands. After realizing amputation might be the best route to regain some mobility, he would connect with Hugh Herr, a biophysist at MIT and would undergo a radical new amputation, now known as the Ewing amputation. All of this is the subject of Augmented, a feature documentary that premiered this past month on Nova PBS. Jim is back to climbing so we chat with him about this journey and the documentary.
David Davis is a Los Angeles based journalist whose work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He is also the author of six books, including Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation. We chat about this book and the history of where and how adaptive sports began.
An accident at age sixteen caused a spinal-cord injury that left Brent Poppen paralyzed. This was a beginning to journeys he never dreamed as he became one of the top disabled athletes in the world. Poppen competed in two consecutive Paralympics, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, in wheelchair rugby and tennis. He earned a Bronze Medal in wheelchair rugby and has received numerous Gold Medals and world titles in both sports. Now, Poppen serves as a rehabilitation counselor at Children’s Hospital in Fresno California. He is also an author, substitute teacher, counselor and motivational speaker.
Kari Miller-Ortiz is a retired U.S. Army Sergeant who lost both her legs when a car she was in was hit by a drunk driver while she was on leave from military duty in 1999. After playing a variety of adaptive sports, including wheelchair basketball, she discovered the sport of sitting volleyball. She would help Team USA win a gold and 2 silver medals over the course of three Paralympics. She has been a huge advocate for adaptive sports and has spent a big part of her career getting other individuals with disabilities involved in sport. Now her focus is to make sure no one is left on the sideline and that everyone experiences the power of sport.
Caitlin Conner has taken up a number of sports, including cycling, boxing, triathlon, and cross-fit. As an amputee, she is now interested in building up para speed skating as a new winter sport. Outside of sport, she is a single mom, a model, and founder of a nonprofit called Be More Adaptive. And if that wasn’t enough, she is planning to head to Ecuador later this year to climb Cotopaxi.
Tim Brown is a retired U.S. Marine, who suffered a significant injury after stepping on an IED during his third deployment to Afghanistan. Sports played a major role in his recovery while at Walter Reed and became a serious and avid cyclist. After earning a degree in marketing and management from Georgetown University, Tim started interning at Move United and has a goal of working with member organization where he can continue to show others the power of sport.
Chuck Aoki is regarded as one of the best wheelchair rugby players in the world and has played on the U.S. team in 3 Paralympic Games, even being named one of two flag bearers for Team USA at the Summer Paralympics last year.
Chuck was born with a rare genetic disorder and was advised by his doctor to regularly use a wheelchair from the age of 12. Just a few years later is when he discovered the sport and started playing at Courage Kenny, a Move United member organization in Minnesota. But Chuck doesn’t only excel in sport. He has completed a master’s degree in public policy and is currently working on his PhD in international relations.
Mohamed Lahna was born in Casablanca, Morocco with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency, leaving him without a femur in his right leg. As a young child, his mobility was limited by crutches or foam inserts made by a shoe cobbler. Despite his situation, Mo would seek inspiration from the world of professional sports and Olympic competition. At the age of 20, Mo was fitted with a real prosthetic. Within 5 years, he rode his first bike. Two months later, he crossed the Atlas Mountains – 1,550 miles of diverse terrain across northwestern Africa - on that same bike. He has swam across the Gibraltar, finished the Kona Ironman, and earned a bronze medal in paratriathlon at the Paralympics.
In 2004, Noah Grove developed bone cancer in his left leg that resulted in an amputation. He was only five years old. Fast forward eight years later and he finds himself at the adaptive sports program at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, a Move United member organization based in Baltimore where he discovered the sport of sled hockey. In 2016, after two years on the development team, Noah was named to the national team, which of course won the Gold Medal against Canada in an epic game at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Noah and the team hope to repeat that performance at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing in March. Outside the national team, Noah has played with the USA Warriors and is completing his bachelor’s degree at Towson University.
BethAnn Chamberlain grew up in northern Minnesota and was introduced to cross country skiing when she joined her high school team. She would continue competing in the sport and biathlon through college. She would be introduced to para Nordic skiing as a volunteer and started coaching. She serves as a Paralympic Development Coach at the US Biathlon Association.
Marc DePerno is an occupational therapist and serves as an outreach coordinator for Sitrin Health Care Center. He was instrumental in establishing the STARS (Success Through Adaptive Recreation and Sports) program for individuals with physical disabilities. In addition, he serves as the manager for the US Wheelchair Curling Team and has been instrumental in growing the sport all across the country.
Darlene Hunter is a 3x Paralympian and Gold Medalist for the US Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Team. At 4 years old, she would suffer a spinal cord injury as a part of a tragic accident but would discover adaptive sports just a few short years later through para track & field. At the University of Arizona, she switched to the sport of wheelchair basketball. In addition to being a player, she has also mentored and coached other athletes by heading the Lady Mavericks Wheelchair Basketball Team in Dallas and hosting an annual women's wheelchair development camp out of the University of Texas-Arlington. The impact she has had on the court is huge, but the impact she is making off the court is even bigger.
Blake Eaton started bi-skiing with Courage Kenny, a Move United member organization based in Duluth, Minnesota, when he was three years old. When he was 8, he was encouraged to give monoskiing a try. Now a senior in high school, his goal is to one day be a member of Team USA and compete at international alpine races. But in addition to skiing, he has also played other sports, including sled hockey with the Minnesota Wild and is on his high school track team. We chat about sports, college, and more.
Dan Cnossen graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and became a Navy SEAL. He would deploy multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan and served as a platoon commander for Seal Team One. In 2009, on a night mission in the Afghanistan mountains, Dan stepped on an IED, losing both legs in the blast. He would later be awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star with Valor.
Never one to shy from a challenge, Dan eventually earned a spot on the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Biathlon Team. The Harvard University graduate would return to the Paralympic Games in 2018, winning one gold, four silver and one bronze medal. He is now training to compete for Team USA once again, at the 2022 Paralympic Games. We talk with Dan about the sport of Nordic skiing, about getting outside, and the benefits of being in nature.
Matt Scott was diagnosed with spinal bifida at birth. He started playing wheelchair basketball when he was 14 years old. In 2004, was recruited to be on the U.S. Men’s National Wheelchair Basketball Team. He is now a two-time World Champion and has played the sport professionally in Europe. As a Team Hartford athlete, Matt has been a part of a number of The Hartford’s Ability Equipped events and went alpine skiing for the first time this past week at The Hartford Ski Spectacular.
Sport has always been an integral part of Steve Emt’s life, even making the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team as a walk on. But at age 25, an automobile accident left him paralyzed. He was searching for something that would fill the void. At age 42, he found it when he was recruited for the U.S. wheelchair curling team. Steve would go on to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang and working to make the 2022 Paralympics as well. So what is curling? Listen to our conversation and find out how exciting this sport is. Steve is the author of "You D.E.C.I.D.E.", which is both a memoir and a self-help book written to empower you to believe in yourself.
Sports allowed Ryan Neiswender to feel free. At an early age, he discovered wheelchair basketball and would receive a full scholarship to play at the University of Illinois, where he was named a 4-time All-American. He would then play the sport professionally in Europe and just a couple months ago, he would help Team USA secure its second gold medal in a row at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. He talks about how our differences make us unique and strong as well as the power of belief.
Jaleen Roberts was born with cerebral palsy. She was encouraged by her high school coaches to compete in the ambulatory races at the Washington state track meet. After some convincing, she would ultimately get involved with adaptive sports through ParaSport Spokane, a Move United member organization. Jaleen’s first para track and field competition took place at the Desert Challenge Games, where she also got classified. Just a couple months ago, she competed in her first Paralympic Games in Tokyo, earning silver medals in the 100 meter and long jump.
Bart Salgado served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was on the ground during the liberation of Kuwait. After his military service, he working on the railroad where he suffered an injury that resulted in the amputation of both legs. Salgado has been a part of the USA Wheelchair Football League since its inception, serving on the rules committee as well as a player and coach for the Los Angeles Rams team hosted by Angel City Sports. So we talk about what it is like to play the game of football and the inaugural season of the league.
Retired Army Officer Melissa Stockwell is proud to wear the United States uniform. She did so as an Army officer and, after a roadside bomb in Iraq led to her left leg being amputated above the knee, she wore the Red, White, and Blue for Team USA. Not in one Paralympic Games, not in two. But in three. The world champion and Paralympic bronze medalist in paratriathlon continues to rack up accomplishments while also continuing to serve others. She co-founded Dare2Tri, a Move United member organization based in Chicago and has launched a prosthetic company with her husband Brian. She has also written a book called The Power of Choice, so we chat with her about it.
Jami Goldman Marseilles is an elementary school teacher, a motivational speaker, an author of two books, and has been featured a highly acclaimed Adidas foot wear tv commercial.
At the age of 19, she was driving home from a ski trip in New Mexico with her friend Lisa when they found themselves on a deserted Arizona logging road in a blinding snow storm. After sliding into a snow bank the women found themselves stranded and alone, huddling for warmth in their stalled, now buried vehicle while the storm raged on.
Rescued but severely frost-bitten, Jami ultimately had to have both of her legs amputated below the knee. But relearning how to walk again, with her prosthetics, was not enough. In 1996, after watching the Paralympics Games, Jami wanted to become an elite runner herself., earning numerous world records and gold medals. Jami teaches others how to use the power of body, mind, spirit as a catalyst to conquer adversity and reach new levels of well-being and happiness.
A graduate of The Citadel, Sarah Evans was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. While serving in Afghanistan in 2012, she was diagnosed with bone cancer, eventually leading to the amputation of her left leg at the hip. Captain Evans would be introduced to adaptive sports at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, which led her to compete in the Warrior and Invictus Games. Her “no quit” mentality also led to her completing the 26.2 mile Bataan Memorial Death March on crutches and summiting Mt Kilimanjaro. In addition to working on a graduate degree, she currently lives in Florida with her husband and two young sons, where sports have become a family affair.
Amanda McGrory attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a dual sport athlete to play wheelchair basketball and compete as a member of wheelchair racing team. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science. She competed in her 4th Paralympic Games last month in Tokyo to conclude her career as an elite athlete, racking up seven Paralympic medals and over 25 marathons along the way. She has been an active with Move United Junior Nationals and today serves as the archivist at the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
Wheelchair Racer Daniel Romanchuk has been on fire the past couple of years. He has won the Chicago Marathon, the London Marathon, the New York City Marathon (he earned the title of youngest athlete to do so) and many more. In 2019, Daniel became the first American to win the Boston Marathon in 26 years in his category. Last month, he earned two medals, a gold and a bronze at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Since then, he has been non-stop, competing and winning medals at the Berlin, London, Chicago, and Boston marathons.
Alana Nichols is a world-class athlete with a passion for challenging herself and others. After suffering a spinal cord injury at age 17 while attempting a back flip on her snowboard, Alana quickly transitioned to adaptive sports. She is a 5X Paralympian and a 6 X Paralympic Medalist, including 3 Gold, 2 Silver, and 1 Bronze. In fact, she is the first American female to win gold medals at both Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. She has competed in three sports at the Paralympic level, including wheelchair basketball, alpine skiing, and sprint kayaking and now she is focused on competitive surfing. Alana is Past President of the Women’s Sports Foundation and served as one of the NBC Commentators for the Tokyo Paralympics.
Logan Aldridge is a leader with the Adaptive Training Academy. As the director of training for the ATA, Logan teaches adaptive CrossFit to both disabled and abled body athletes all over the world. In addition to coaching, he also competes in CrossFit competitions. Logan has wowed people all across the world with his incredible feats of strength with just one arm.
Erica Wheeler went to Stanford University, and not only set the school women’s javelin record but a Pacific-10 Conference mark as well. She left there as a four-time All-American. She would go on to compete for #TeamUSA at the 1996 Olympic teams and later would win the 2003 U.S. outdoor title. Erica would move into coaching and now is the throwing coach for the U.S. Para Track & Field Team. So we discuss the various para field events.
Jill Moore would describe herself as a bonafide play addict. Born with spina bifida, she tried a number of adaptive sports growing up from wheelchair rugby and basketball to track and field. She received a wheelchair racing scholarship to attend the University of Illinois, where she would study industrial design. She also competed for Team USA in 2015. She continues to advance the field of play by serving as an inclusive play specialist at Landscape Structures. We chat about sports, recreation, and play for all.
Ian Seidenfeld just followed in his father’s footsteps by winning a gold medal in para table tennis at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. His father Mitch, who is also Ian’s coach, did the same at the 1992 Games. We sit down with Ian to get the spin on the sport.
Tahl Leibovitz is competing in his sixth Paralympic games in Tokyo in the sport of para table tenns. To date, he has brought home three medals for Team USA, including 1 gold and 2 bronze. Tahl is an icon in the sport and has been inducted into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame and has represented the United States internationally for more than 20 years. He wrote Ping Pong for Fighters, a best selling table tennis instructional book. Outside of sport, Tahl graduated with an MSW from New York University, is currently licensed as an LMSW and works in New York City assisting marginalized groups and individuals.
Lex Gillette is the current world record holder in the long jump, a four-time Paralympic medalist, a three-time long jump world champion, and an 18-time national champion. He is the only totally blind athlete to ever eclipse the 22-foot barrier in the long jump. Lex won his first Paralympic silver medal in the long jump at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. He was 19. Now, he is in Tokyo, planning to medal at his fifth consecutive Paralympic Games with his mantra “No Need for Sight When You Have a Vision®”.
On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. Seven years later, he would complete the Seven Summits, the highest point on every continent. In 2014, he kayaked the entire 277-miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Erik understands that barriers are real, not merely perceived, and that obstacles encountered can either stop us in our tracks, or we can figure out a way to harness them. His propensity to take on and knock down the loftiest of challenges is carried through his work with No Barriers, through his books, films, and other projects to encourage others to take their barriers as well.
Never expected to sit, stand, walk, or even possibly live, McKenzie Coan, who was born with brittle bone disease, has spent her life defying the odds. At 8 years old, she would set out on a successful swimming career. Four years later, she would compete at the London Paralympic Games in 2012. She would stand atop the Paralympic podium 3 times in 2016 in Rio. Now, she is heading to Tokyo for her 3rd games. We talk with her about her life, her career and her new book, “Breaking Free – Shattering Expectations and Thriving with Ambition in Pursuit of Gold” which tackles some of today’s hot topics including discrimination, mental health, self-care, and body image.
Candice Caesar’s father and grandfather both served in our country’s military. She knew that she wanted to serve as well, enlisting in the U.S. Army. But a vehicle accident while on duty in Germany impacted her military career after suffering a spinal cord injury. She challenged her prognosis by setting out with a goal to complete a marathon or half marathon in every state. Now, she has set her sight on competing in para archery at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
Michael Simon was impacted by the events that happened on 9/11 twenty years ago this September. It moved him to join the Minnesota Army National Guard and was called up to Iraq about two years later and was deployed there for nearly two years. After returning stateside, a tumor was discovered that essentially ended his military service and affected his physical and mental health. Since then though, sports have made a difference. He skis and instructs with Courage Kenny (a Move United member) and did his first triathlon in 2011 and has been a Dare2Tri athlete. Service is still important to him and finds ways to give back to the adaptive sports community.
Terry Hayes served as a heavy equipment operator in the U.S. Army. In 2011 she was diagnosed with a rare degenerative brain disease with no cure and no treatment. As someone that was used to being active, she was looking for a wheelchair sport when she learned about parafencing. At 63, she will be heading to Tokyo to compete for the U.S. in the Paralympic Games and is the oldest female category “B” parafencer in the world proving, in more ways than one, there are no limits.
Hailey Danz is a six-time Paratriathlon World Championships medalist and won a silver medal at the 2016 Games in Rio. She is a Team Hartford athlete and has had the opportunity to be a part of presenting adaptive sports equipment through The Hartford’s Ability Equipped program in partnership with Move United over the past couple of years. Hailey will also be a special guest at Move United Junior Nationals presented by The Hartford, which takes place July 17-23 in the Metro Denver area.
You may be familiar with the game of badminton. Many schools teach the sport in physical education class. It is also often played at family reunions, on beaches, and in backyards across the country. So in 2015, as it began to look like badminton was going to become a Paralympic sport, Steve Kearney was asked to run the para badminton program for Team USA and USA Badminton. So we chat with him about the sport and the progress made here in the United States as we gear up for the Tokyo Games.
Grind leads to glory. And Jeremy Boyd keeps on grinding. Less than five years ago, he was shot in the side, impacting his spinal cord. Just months after that incident, Jeremy was introduced to the sport of wheelchair tennis. He is a member of the University of Alabama Wheelchair Tennis Team, winning some titles and finishing #1 in Men’s B singles. Entering his senior year in college, he is now playing in the Men’s A division. He does have a goal of representing the USA at the Paralympics in the future.
The sport of parafencing has been equated to a game of physical chess. And Shelby Jensen would know. The Move United Elite Team member has been ranked #1 in saber and #2 in epee and foil in the United States. When not competing for Team USA at the international level, she practices and competes with her local program in Salt Lake City, the Utah Swords Academy Fencing Club. A sophomore in college, she has her sights set on competing at the next three Paralympic Games.
James Gumbert would describe wheelchair rugby as an incredible game, something he was missing since he’d been injured. He was first introduced to the sport in 1992 by Hall of Famer Steven Scott and helped start a club team in Austin, Texas. He played in Austin for four years and then played in Houston for four years. In 1997, he started another team back in Austin and was trying to manage, coach, and play. Then realized he needed to pick one. So Gumbert started coaching in 1998-99. Coach Gumbie, as he is called by many, would then coach for the U.S. development team in 1999 and took over the national team after the 2004 Paralympig Games in Athens. He is still blowing the whistle. So we chat with him about the contact and camaraderie the sport of wheelchair rugby is known for.
Badminton is more than a backyard sport. In fact, it is considered the 2nd largest sport in the world, although there is definitely some room for growth in the U.S. This summer, para badminton will make its Paralympic debut in Tokyo. So this week, we are chatting with Amy Burnett, a member of the U.S. Para Badminton team to discuss the sport and how to grow it.. Amy is the first wheelchair athlete on Team USA and has represented the United States in competitions across the globe, including at the Para Pan Am Games.
Ashley Eisenmenger is considered the first NCAA triathlete with a disability that required some sport specific adaptation. As a blind triathlete, Ashley raced varsity women’s triathlon her junior and senior year at North Central College. She continues to compete at the highest level at various triathlons, including the Chicago Tri which is in her back yard. Ashley was recently able to get certified as a USAT coach and is connected to Dare2Tri, a Move United member organization, where she helps out at some of their camps. Outside of sports, she works for a nonprofit in Chicago called Access Living where she consults and trains on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Dana Mathewson was 10 years old when she contracted a rare autoimmune disease which impacted her spinal cord. After being in the hospital for about a month, her mom wanted her to give adaptive sports a try. As an athletic child, she was extremely hesitant to see what adaptive sports would be like in comparison. Like some other athletes, she never thought they would be competitive enough. But as she states, she was quickly proven wrong, and fell in love with the sport of wheelchair tennis.
Dana would go on to attend the University of Arizona, one of the few schools in the country that had a collegiate level adaptive sports program and gave her a scholarship to compete on their wheelchair tennis team. Being able to play sports at a Division I school was a dream of hers. Now, she is pursuing a doctorate but also focused on returning to her second Paralympic Games. She is the number 1 ranked female wheelchair tennis player in the U.S. and currently ranked 9th in the world leading up to Tokyo.
A new show premieres on National Geographic on May 31st called Breaking Bobby Bones. In each half-hour episode, Bobby pursues his own mantra—Fight. Grind. Repeat.—by traveling to far-flung destinations across the country to find people with unique jobs, skills, hobbies and abilities. He meets everyday heroes who challenge him while also exploring the triumphs and tragedies that made these folks who they are today. Two of those episodes delve into the world of adaptive sports.
So today, we are thrilled to talk with Bobby Bones himself as well as extreme sports athlete Lonnie Bedwell, the focus of one of the Breaking Bobby Bones episodes.
Bobby Bones is an American radio and television personality, best known for hosting the nationally syndicated The Bobby Bones Show and for his role as a mentor on American Idol on ABC. He has also written two New York Times best sellers.
Lonnie Bedwell is a former Navy Petty Officer, who was critically injured in 1997 during a hunting accident that instantly took his sight. He is considered the first blind athlete to kayak the entire 226 miles of the Colorado River that stretches through the Grand Canyon and was named the 2015 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.
Joe Delagrave was a three sport athlete throughout high school, which led him to play Division II football at Winona State University. But on July 10, 2004 a casual boating adventure with some friends on the Mississippi River turned into a life altering accident. In the matter of a split second, he went from a college football player to a paralyzed 19 year old kid. He would discover wheelchair rugby, a sport that helped him become independent, confident and fuel his competitive fire. He has been a member and captain of the USA Team for several years now.
Mickey Zeljkovic is a five-time Serbian National Champion as a fencer and a former Paralympic National Head Coach for Kuwait. Now, he runs his own fencing club in the Philadelphia area and has developed multiple club programs for Paralympic fencers on the East Coast. In 2018, Mickey was named head coach of Team USA’s parafencing squad and has managed the qualification efforts for the 2021 Paralympic Games. So we talk about parafencing and how to get started in the sport.
In 2002, Chuck Melton acquired a C7 spinal cord injury from a diving accident. Five years after his accident, he began to play wheelchair rugby in at a local program in St. Louis. For the past 12 years, he has been a member of the national team, winning a silver medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. He is hoping to better that finish at the upcoming games in Tokyo.
Mary Hodge has coached four Paralympic Games. When she first started, she was the only female para coach in the U.S. at the time. She first got involved in sports for people with disabilities in 1988 when she started a local team for athletes with Cerebral Palsy. As the High-Performance Manager at US Para Powerlifting, headquartered at Logan University, her main goal within the organization is to help athletes earn medals and achieve their dreams of representing Team USA.
Desmond Jackson is considered the fastest above knee amputee in the United States, currently holding the national record in the 100m dash. Throughout his life, Dez has been blazing trails. In middle school, he became the first amputee to compete in track and field in the state of North Carolina. At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio he turned 16 years old and was the youngest African American male to make the U.S. Track & Field Paralympic Team that year. He hopes to continue to break records and blaze trails at the Tokyo Games this summer.
Sports have been a huge part of Navy Veteran Jared Lenahan's life. As he gets older, he continues to find himself more involved in sports. It was while he was climbing in Italy that Jared fell to the ground, sustaining significant injuries. But that hasn’t stopped him. Nor has it altered his love and passion for climbing. In fact, Jared is currently ranked the 7th best para climber in the world in his division and he hopes to open his own adaptive climbing gym in the future.
Ellen Geddes was actively competing in the equestrian sport of dressage when a car accident left her paralyzed at 22 years old. While she rehabilitating at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, she was introduced to different adaptive sports. But there was one that caught her attention. Now she is a member of Team USA and is aiming to compete at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in parafencing.
After suffering injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq, retired Army Specialist Kyle Moxley tried different sports. Each new sport led him to figure how his true abilities and narrow down what he wanted to do. Moxley settled on skiing because it freed his mind from what happened in the past or all the bad things. He trains with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) and is currently ranked sixth in the nation in alpine skiing.
Growing up, sports was difficult for Sophia Herzog as she felt it was not really a level playing field for individuals like her. But now the Paralympic Silver Medalist, who is an athlete ambassador for the Women’s Sports Foundation and served as a guest speaker for National Girls and Women in Sports Day this year, is inspiring the next generation to find their passion and have confidence to know that they can do whatever they put their mind to.
Lera Doederlein was 14 when she underwent amputation of her legs to ultimately help improve her mobility and gain some independence. Within six months, she would give sled hockey a try. She now plays for the San Diego Ducks as well as the National Women’s Sled Hockey Team. But recently, multi-sport Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters also encouraged her to give Nordic skiing a try. She now finds herself also training and competing with the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Ski Team.
Kelli Ann Stallkamp has played sled hockey for the Columbus Blue Jackets Sled Hockey Team and the USA Women's National Sled Hockey Team. She started lifting weights as part of her cross training and fell in love with that sport. She now has a goal of representing Team USA and USA Para Powerlifting at the Paralympic Games
Byron Branch was an elite able-bodied foil fencer. While on duty as a police officer, he was struck by a car along Interstate 75 in Ohio just before the holidays in 2016. After that accident, Branch had his right leg amputated. Less than 2 years later, he would win gold in his first-ever wheelchair fencing competition and is now aiming to represent Team USA at the upcoming Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Army Veteran Tony Drees would survive the deadliest missile attack of the Gulf War. But in February 2018, the Purple Heart recipient’s right leg was amputated at the hip due to complications from his wounds. That year, he would learn how to ski as an amputee. Now, skiing is his jam. Drees uses his love for skiing and adaptive sports as a way to engage others.