EDINBORO, Pa. – The nine teams battling it out on the basketball court here aren’t listed on any NCAA brackets. There will be no crowd-pleasing slam dunks, no sky-high leaps and no national television coverage.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any less madness in this March tournament.

As the game clock starts, these athletes dribble and pass the ball while propelling themselves down the court in sweeping, powerful strokes with their muscular arms on lightweight wheelchairs. They spin around opponents, blocking shots or stopping them from advancing. With a large crash, they slam into each other, occasionally falling on their sides before picking themselves up and doing it all over again.

This is wheelchair basketball. Continue Reading »

In the weeks following the car accident that left him paralyzed below the waist, Geoff Luther was haunted by worries that he’d lost the chance to be a father.

“It was some of the stuff I was thinking about the most,” said Luther. “What about having children? What about getting married? Can you naturally conceive a family?”

His questions are shared by thousands of young men each year who suffer paralyzing spinal injuries. But many may give up hope — or undergo unnecessary, invasive procedures — because their doctors don’t know about simple ways to help them. Continue Reading »

Allie Skelley never thought such a mundane task that most people take for granted would make him so happy. But he’s grateful for every day he rolls out of bed and his feet touch the floor without assistance.

That wasn’t a given four years ago when the Wolfeboro native suffered a serious neck injury that could have killed him or at the very least cost him the ability to walk.

A junior defenseman and captain for the St. Lawrence University hockey team, Skelley was checked from behind in a game against Lake Superior State in Canton, N.Y., and tumbled head-first into the boards. Continue Reading »