by Tiff -

SCI Superstar: Aaron Fotheringham

“Just when you thought sitting was safe” is Aaron Fotheringham’s awesome tagline. Touring with the Nitro Circus (an extreme sports tour), speaking and doing demos at events and at school, such is the life of your-not-so-average 20 year old from Las Vegas, the very brave soul behind the world’s first wheelchair back flip.

Aaron was born with Spina Bifida, but could never just sit. Wasn’t his thing. After being adopted into a close-knit family as a baby (they adopted 7 kids in total), they’re the reason he’s the extreme adapted athlete he is today.

One of his brothers was into skating, and Aaron would always come along and watch…

After watching everyone have all the fun, at 8 years old Aaron decided it was time to stop watching and he gave a quarter-pipe a taste of his wheels. Sure he fell, but the rest is history. Read this entry

by Tiff -

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 Nationals in Lake Whitney, Texas), he was the last guy to ever think of wiping his hands clean of the sport he grew up sleeping and breathing.

Are you kidding? “Motocrossers are a different breed,” says Ricky. Read this entry

by Tiff -

Wheelchair-users: What do you do when someone uses your chair as a footrest?

A disgruntled woman wrote me the other day about one of the biggest pet peeves I think most people have when living the wheelchair life.

People who have no qualms about using our wheelchairs as an end to a means for something they need to get accomplished.  Have no idea what I’m talking about? Let me explain.

The woman who wrote me told me that last week, while waiting for the elevator with a coworker, this coworker suddenly propped his foot up on her wheelchair and tied his shoe.

I don’t know about you, but if you use a wheelchair, this is about equal to someone putting their foot on your thigh.  Highly offensive barely covers it. Read this entry