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SCI Superstar: Ricky James
One word has been driving Ricky James since he broke his back – perseverance (and he has the entire thing tattooed up his left leg in huge cursive font). If you know motocross, you probably know who Ricky James is (and maybe knew about him before injury). He was a rising 15 year old star in the motocross world who started racing at the age of 2 (they called him a “prodigy on two wheels”). He was even home-schooled so he could keep up with his crazy schedule. Motocross is in Ricky’s blood and always will be. That is why after his accident (he hit a dirt embankment racing Amateurs…
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Could Tiger Woods play like these guys?
By using either good old-fashioned American ingenuity or the very cool stand-up personal mobility device, the Paragolfer (also known as the Paramobile), the only handicap you have to worry about when you’re out on the links is your number of swings, not your paralysis. See with golf, creativity is key. It’s funny…so many people think golf is off-limits to people in chairs. But as long as you have the right equipment (and an open-minded golf course that doesn’t think wheelchair-users are the equivalent of lawn-wrecking gophers), you can golf. Really! All you need is some upper-body movement and determination to get out there. In this first video, Tim, a paraplegic…
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SCI Superstar: Sabrina Cohen
Sabrina Cohen, a C3-5 quad, saw her whole life change on Halloween in 1992 after she left a party with friends. All it took was being a passenger in a car (that decided to suddenly join in on a drag race) for her life to be completely altered. The car hit a tree, with Sabrina breaking her C3 through C5 vertebrae. But even though she was only 14, she started honing her advocacy skills from the get-go. In this video you can see one of the first speeches she gave after injury, where she speaks to fellow high school students on the power they have to say ‘no’ to bad…
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Getting hitched (on wheels)
Wheelchair-users get married everyday (despite most able-bodied people being shocked). No, we are not damaged goods; we are some of the most precious cargo around. What’s important is the love that’s shared between two people, not the car you drive. These two wheelchair wedding videos – one giving advice on planning a wedding if you use a wheelchair, the other showing the coolest first dance I’ve ever seen a wheelchair-user do – prove just how awesome our weddings can still be. And what I love about these videos is that they’re not about a bride or groom walking down the aisle, the media‘s favorite subject of late (we get it…
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My Gimpy Life trailer drops
I don’t mean to be bossy, but you gotta watch this trailer of the upcoming web series (a TV show available online), My Gimpy Life, starring my awesome friend Teal Sherer. When it comes to disability in the media, I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite as smart, witty and well, as perfect, as this. She’s a paraplegic actress in Hollywood (in real life) who plays a working paraplegic actress in Hollywood, and it’s a comedy (a damn good one). That’s all you need to know. Can’t wait for this series to premiere July 31st! Now, prepare to have your mind blown:
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SCI Superstar: Daryl “Chill” Mitchell
Maybe you recognize him from NBC’s Ed or maybe you remember him from when he could walk when he was in Veronica’s Closet. Or maybe it was that show Brothers on Fox a few years back. That’s what’s so incredibly blog-worthy (times infinity) about Daryl “Chill” Mitchell is that he’s had this amazingly long acting career, millions recognize him, but he’s managed to do all this despite becoming a wheelchair-user midway through his career. This was not something he had planned for (obviously). Daryl was a tall drink of water before his motorcycle accident. Being naturally funny, he was cast in dozens of TV shows and movies in the 1990′s,…
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Amazing paralyzed crotch rocket rider
It’s true, Brian Kinney, a T1 paraplegic from Ohio, broke his back riding his motorcycle. Call it sad, tragic, no question it was all of those things. But Brian still loved to ride. So after coming home from the hospital, he decided to get back on the road – out on the same bike (a Kawasaki Ninja 650R) – only with few modifications this time around. And he recorded it for your viewing pleasure. I was pretty amazed when I first saw his video. I honestly never thought it was possible for someone paralyzed to ride a motorcycle with only two wheels. Never, never, never (does that make me naive?…
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SCI Superstar: Tim Strachan
“Go Stags!” is a chant Tim Strachan, 34, heard all the time as the starting quarterback for DeMatha Catholic High School (a premier boys high school in Maryland). And no wonder, at 6’3, 215 lbs, with a “spectacular arm,” Tim was a beast (and the ’beast’ Joe Paterno wanted as Penn State’s next quarterback). Then everything changed right before his senior year. A day at Bethany Beach landed Tim with a broken C5 vertebrae. He underwent a massive 19 hour neck surgery and had to spend the next several months in rehab. That was over 18 years, and a lifetime ago. Broken neck? Don’t take Tim down for the count.…
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Wheelchairs and tent camping can co-exist | SPINALpedia
Tofu burgers on the campfire; my very first and very weird camping memory (hey, I can’t help it if my best friend’s parents who took us camping growing up were old hippies that also went to Woodstock). Camping is in my blood and the videos below prove that you can still camp even if you can’t walk. Sure…it requires extra planning – you need to find a campground that has accessible sites, accessible trails AND accessible bathrooms – but if you ask me? Totally still worth it. Before heading out, you’ll need an accessible tent. And yup, they really can be accessible (you just need to think about your specific…
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SCI Superstar: Teal Sherer
Teal Sherer (yup like the color), whose an actress and paraplegic, has come a long way from the log house she grew up in in rural Tennessee. After breaking her back while riding in a car to Labor Day fireworks show when she was just 14, she found a new passion post-injury – acting – hasn’t looked back since. After college, Teal decided to make the big move out to LA to pursue her dreams of acting. Her first break came in 2004, when she was cast in HBO’s Warm Springs (a film about the life of FDR starring Kenneth Branagh. She played a young woman with Polio. Loved this…
