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The car accident that damaged Patrick Rummerfield’s spinal cord in 1974 should have laid him up permanently.
So why does he now drive drag racers in Texas, race drag boats on Creve Coeur Lake, break land speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats, run marathons across Antarctica or run endurance races across the Gobi Desert in China? Continue Reading »
Mike Bliss’ story can be told in four words:
Believe. Persevere. Thank you.
On March 22, 2008, Bliss, a 21-year-old junior accounting major at the State University of New York at Buffalo, left a Main Street bar near the campus. In an unprovoked attack, he was beaten and stomped by two other SUNY students. The assault left him with two dislocated vertebrae and a bruised spinal cord — words that understate the severity of the injury. He was paralyzed from the neck down. Continue Reading »
Despite a spinal cord injury that rendered her a quadriplegic, Melissa Nunn’s determination and optimism are an inspiration to everyone around her.
Melissa Nunn was a redheaded firecracker of a softball player who attacked the sport’s two most challenging positions – pitcher and third base – for William Tennent High School.
And she did it with the fervor of a weathered veteran, not a wavering 15-year-old rookie. Continue Reading »
In tae kwon do, age doesn’t factor into where you rank in the classroom. What you’ve achieved does.
Danny Hicks has a front-row position at the Auvenshine School of Tae Kwon Do in Auburn. His hard work over the past decade has made him one of the highest-ranking students in the school: a first-degree black belt.
And he got there in a manner few, if any, have: from the seat of a wheelchair.
Hicks, 37, of Springfield suffered a spinal cord injury when a vehicle he was traveling in went off the road and into a grove of pine trees in 1990, just weeks after he graduated from Lanphier High School. Continue Reading »
One night changed the course of Megan McCauley’s young life.
The former chef at Carmel’s Bar and Restaurant was in an ATV accident Nov. 21, 2007, that left her paralyzed. It’s an unexpected twist in the now 24-year-old’s life, but not a tragic one, McCauley said. Continue Reading »
The fourth annual Kelly Brush Century Ride kicked off early on Saturday morning to cool temperatures and thick crowds at Middlebury College, where cyclists in the benefit ride gathered before pedaling off on 25-, 50- or 100-mile routes.
This year, 495 cyclists participated in the ride, which raises money for the Kelly Brush Foundation, which supports spinal cord injury research. The foundation also funds ski racing safety programs and provides adaptive sports equipments to individuals with spinal cord injuries. As of press time, this year’s race has raised a record-breaking $200,000, and officials were still tallying up the last donations. Continue Reading »
Michael Glen took his first hot-air balloon flight when he was 2 weeks old.
Growing up in a ballooning family, he never had any doubts that he would one day become a pilot himself.
His life changed when, at age 21, he suffered a spinal cord injury in an automobile accident that paralyzed him from the waist down. Continue Reading »
Jannette Saxton, Ms. Wheelchair Washington 2009 became the first runner up at the 2010 Ms. Wheelchair America pageant, held Aug. 29 in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Her dedication to getting on with it – her work as a civilian mobilization and deployment specialist for the U.S. Army, life with a disability, her determination to serve as a role model for others – helped earn the 31-year-old Lakewood woman her state title in February and allowed her to compete for the crown of Ms. Wheelchair America. Continue Reading »
He lives by the one word: Perseverance. His goals and dreams are being fulfilled with each challenge that comes his way.
He has raced in the Baja 500, along with competing in the Ironman competition while covering the 63 mile event in just seven hours, 14 minutes.
He has also competed in, and finished the L.A. Marathon fifth in a hand cycle, and even competed in the X-games in Los Angeles back in 2008. Continue Reading »
In 2004, a skydiving accident left Jim Carlaccini with a T-12 complete spinal cord injury. Always having an interest for aviation since a young age, he didn’t let the accident stop him from getting back into the air.
“Aviation is my passion,” says Carlaccini, age 55. “I refer to it more as a passion than a hobby.” Having received his pilot’s license in 1989, Carlaccini began skydiving in 1995.
After his accident, he purchased a weight-shift control aircraft, also referred to as a “trike.” “It maneuvers by shifting your weight,” explains Carlaccini. “You don’t need to use your feet to operate it.” Continue Reading »