As part of my blogging for SPINALpedia.com, I get to write about a lot of awesome people with SCI. And Frank Gardner, a paralyzed BBC security correspondent, is one of the coolest.
Learn all about this badass Brit who was shot in Saudi Arabia in 2004, and hasn’t stopped being a high-profile journalist. Read this entry
In podcast #93, Tiffiny is joined by Sara Tabor, a 30 something woman paralyzed 4 years ago in a bizarre accident, who’s went on to discover a new sport post-injury (where females are still the minority, but are recently gaining numbers) – sled hockey.
Frank Gardner, paralyzed in a terrorist attack while reporting for the BBC in ’04, treks to the mountains of Rwanda to finally see a silver back Gorilla in it’s native environment. Read this entry
Jess, 35, was a forward on the NY Rollin’ Knicks the last few yrs.
Now he’s teaching men & women in Afghanistan (he’s been doing it since 2009) how to play the game. I want to work for the Int’l Red Cross too! Read all about him
The most decorated male Paralympian mono-skiier of all-time, one of People’s “50 Most Beautiful People” in 1998, and Chris just scaled Mt. Kilamajaro using a four-wheeled hand crank device you gotta see to believe. Read this entry
In episode 11, the girls get to do one of the best adrenaline rushes you can still get when paralyzed – downhill skiing. They head to Big Bear, Cali for the classic weekend ski getaway.
Tiphany and Chelsie have fun rating hot men during the road trip there, Chelsie can’t calm her nerves before she skis and Angela has so much fun she can’t stop smiling. Also, watch Mia prove paraplegics can conquer the top bunk!
SPOILERS AHEAD ***
The episode begins with a flurry of activity at Angela’s house – all four girls are there, plus Chelsie, to pack for their trip to Big Bear (Auti’s idea. She’s the only one in the group who has gone adapted skiing before).
Both Chelsie and Tiphany have gone skiing before their injuries, but Chelsea is definitely the most scared to go. She tried snowboarding her first time a month before her injury, and talks about how she’s afraid it won’t be the same.
Angela thinks it’ll be scary. “Come on a quadriplegic skiing?” Mia says this is the first time she’s ever gone skiing, and I think she kind of likes it that way. We get a cute shot of Angela and her 25 year old boyfriend (she’s 37), and calls herself a “cougar kitty.”
Their relationship is definitely getting stronger. Cody says learning to be with Angela has been an amazing growth process. “I had to battle immaturity to be her boyfriend,” he says.
When I flew in a plane the first time as a wheelchair-user 5 years after my accident, I was so nervous. I didn’t want it to be a hassle, or rather “be” the hassle. I was hoping and praying it’d be quick and seamless.
It’s really too bad this video wasn’t available, showing how a wheelchair-user boards a plane (no you don’t stay in your chair. FAA regulations), when I was freaking in my early days. Had I seen this video, it would’ve calmed almost all of my nerves for sure.
And this video is loaded with wheelchair travel secret after another wheelchair travel secret; shared by seasoned traveler himself, Mark Schmidt, paraplegic and Vice President of EasyStand. What I love about this video is how he shares his tricks of the trade that you usually only figure out yourself.
In his video, you’ll learn about eight solid tips that I absolutely guarantee you won’t find anywhere else. My favorite is his trick in getting a free rental car upgrade. He also shows the process of checking-in (how early you should show up), going through security, arriving at the terminal, fanagling seat upgrades and more. There’s A LOT of tips here, so definitely make sure to take a look if you use a wheelchair.
