Mahler's Monday Morning Motivator # 38 - A Man Named Kevin

[Mahler]

Mahler’s Monday Morning Motivator # 30 – A Man Named Kevin

Good morning, guys. Last week I got an e-mail from one of the guys on JP’s site. His name is Michael and he goes by the screen name of “RedLefty.” He wrote to me about a guy that works out at his gym and who proved to be a true motivation for him. He suggested that I take the topic and apply the Mahler touch, but frankly, I could not do better than Michael did except to add my thanks to him for sending this to me.

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Kevin Saunders (www.kevinsaunders.com) works out at the same gym as I do, and usually at the same time. It's a tiny gym, so we sometimes chat a little and watch each other's workouts. Kevin was paralyzed from the chest down in a massive grain elevator explosion in 1981 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was a federal inspector for the USDA, and on that day in 1981 he lost 10 coworkers and friends in the massive blast (called the worst in South Texas history). He was thrown over 300 feet onto a concrete parking lot,
and was in a coma for weeks. He says he could still hear, though, and remembers the visits of his wife and young son, making him determined to never give up in his recovery.

Less than 4 years after the accident, Kevin was already a world class paralympic athlete, competing all over the world. He was the best all-around wheelchair athlete in the world from 1989 to 1992, winning multiple gold medals in the pentathlon, and won medals in the Seoul and Barcelona Olympics.

He then really began to use his platform and visibility to inspire and educate others. Kevin was the first physically disabled person appointed to the President's Council on Fitness and Sports, serving under President George H. Bush. Shortly after Clinton's inauguration, the new president selected all-new members for the council... except one. Kevin Saunders was the only member reappointed to serve on the council under President Clinton. Kevin's work with Chairman Arnold Schwarzennagar throughout this period helped reach millions of people across America with information and tools for healthy
living.

I still get to see Kevin a few times a week at the gym, often with his always-smiling wife Dora. He still has his rough times, and he's had some pretty serious injuries over the years that have left him unable to exercise for months at a time. Yet he always, always, always, comes back, works hard and gets himself back into incredible shape. He's currently on a tour across America to help the fight against obesity and just completed wheeling from Canada to Mexico, crossing over the border a few weeks ago. His tour's
not done, though, as there are dozens of more cities on his list to visit.

Kevin never pushed his story in my face -- in fact, he never mentioned it. He was just gone one day, and when I asked where he was, the trainer told me about his tour. All I knew was that this guy in the wheelchair was the hardest worker in the gym that I'd ever seen. Now that I know him better, all I have to do is picture his face when I want to skip a workout, or even another set of bulgarian split squats. [img]smile.gif[/img]

He has done so much incredible work with only 25% of his body functioning properly. Most of us have close to 100% functional ability... what will we choose to do with it?

--Michael (RedLefty from JP’s site)

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Guys, I encourage you to go to the man’s web site and take a look around. What an amazing story and what an amazing man. Thanks, Michael.

In Fitness & Friendship,
Mahler

[NoMoYoYo]

I've actually heard Kevin's story before.

Thanks, RedLefty and Mahler.

[hard_rox]

great story. thanks for sharing Michael.

[vin]

This reminds me of a great Times Magazine article from a few weeks ago:

Not One for the Sidelines
By SCOTT HOGSETT as told to DANA ADAM SHAPIRO

Published: September 19, 2004


was at a wedding recently with my fiancee, and this woman comes up to me and says, ''Oh, I hear you're in the Special Olympics!'' That's about the biggest insult you could say to me. The Special Olympics are for people with severe mental disabilities. They're held every year in every city, and everyone gets a hug and a ribbon at the end. The Paralympics aren't like that. We train year-round. It's very competitive -- there's wheelchair basketball, fencing, powerlifting, judo -- it's not one of these disabled sports where people are like: ''Oh, it's so good to see you out here. You just threw that one foot, and we're so glad!''

We're going to Athens this month to win a gold medal just like the regular Olympians did. I've been cut from five or six national teams, so when I heard my name called for the Paralympic squad, I almost died. It's amazing that the worst thing that ever happened to me gave rise to the best.

I'm 1 of 12 players on the quad rugby team. ''Quad'' is for quadriplegic. The first thing most people think of when you say quadriplegic is Christopher Reeve, but he's not exactly the best example of someone in a wheelchair. Even though we're both quadriplegic, it's like night and day. The guys who play rugby, we're pretty much paralyzed from the chest down, but we can move our arms and lead independent lives.

Most of the athletes broke their necks. I broke mine in '92, when I was 19. I was at this lake cabin in Idaho for a Super Bowl party, and this kid started trying to pick a fight with me. The next thing I knew, he picked me up and threw me off the back deck, and I landed on a pile of rocks. My friends were trying to get to me, but he got to me first and punched me in the face. I still, to this day, remember the snap in my neck. Then I went numb. My friends picked me up and carried me inside, and they said I looked like a chicken with its neck wrung. For a few years after that, I thought I wouldn't be able to do anything. It's like, what the hell am I going to do now besides watch TV?

In rehab, my therapist said, ''Why don't you try wheelchair basketball -- maybe we'll get you strong enough so you can shoot a basket.'' But I knew that would never happen. I can move my arms, but I can't really move my fingers, so I can't dribble and shoot. Playing basketball made me feel gimpy. Quad rugby made me feel normal again. The sport, which was originally called murderball, has come a long way since it was invented in the late 70's. It's full contact, and we use these sticky gardening gloves and a lot of pine tar to get a good grip on the ball. It became an official Paralympic sport at the 2000 Games in Sydney. It's played four on four on a basketball court, and you score a goal by crossing the line with the ball. When I started, back in '94, we basically played in our everyday chairs, meaning the chair I went home in. Now we get in these specially designed sports chairs, which are built for hitting and for speed. These chairs are like thunder.

Over the years, I've had surgery on both elbows from falling; I've dislocated several fingers; I slammed my face on the floor and cracked a bone in my nose. But that's why I love it. It's the fastest-growing wheelchair sport in the world. There will be eight teams in Athens. U.S.A. has dominated the sport since it was introduced. We won gold in Atlanta in 1996, when it was a demonstration sport, and in 2000 we beat Australia by one goal.

Our biggest rival now is Canada. Their head coach was a U.S.A. player for a long time -- he was one of the first great players. But he got cut in 2000 and took it personally. We believe that's why he went over to Canada. It's a real grudge match. The last time we played, one of their players did a really cheap hit, and there was almost a bench-clearing brawl. The difference is that our bench stays under us the whole time! Our chairs don't really allow us to get close enough to one another, nor do we have the function to really beat the hell out of one another, but we can get our licks in and throw a few punches. People are always surprised when they see how physical we get.

The guys who don't have that attitude are the ones who are sitting at home under a blanket feeling sorry for themselves. That's not how I'll live. Ever. Before my injury, I was always doing something -- baseball, football, skiing -- and I got into my share of fights. I was all about being that high-school jock-punk who was into living the wild life. I never backed down. I'm still the same way. I'm going to the Olympics, I'm going to be married, I water-ski, I sky-dive. The only time my fiancee worries about me is when I'm sitting still. I don't even think about the chair. It runs through your mind, of course, when you're falling through the air at 13,000 feet, but what's the worst that's going to happen . . . I'll break my neck?


Dana Adam Shapiro is the co-director of ''Murderball,'' a feature documentary about quad rugby coming out in 2005. His first novel, ''The Every Boy,'' will be published by Houghton Mifflin next year.

[Mahler]

vin,
Thanks for the contribution. Amazing article and an amazing man.

Mahler

[JDrake301]

Good story. Within last year my friend Mark was broke his 3rd and 4th vertebrate in a football accident. After the accident he was paralyzed from the neck down. He was told he would never walk again but kept at it and is now walking w/ a walker.
I think he'll like this one.

[RedLefty]

Thanks guys, Kevin is really a great guy and seeing him in the gym is all the motivation I need to have an awesome workout.

And like I told Mahler, just in case you're curious after checking out Kevin Saunders' website... no, he no longer has the mullet. [img]smile.gif[/img]