Overcoming Disabilties Team Room

[brotherjim]

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Jean Nail has been judging cheerleaders longer than most current cheerleaders have been alive. She started as spirit coordinator for the University of Arkansas 30 years ago, and let's just say her standards are as tough as her name.

So her heart didn't immediately melt earlier this year when she saw the DVD application of a blonde Texarkana girl named Patience Beard. Nail knew thousands of people would go "wow" when they took one look at the girl, and not in the way most red-blooded males say "wow" when they look at a cheerleader.

Patience was different than any other applicant Nail had ever seen: She had a prosthetic left leg. Nail was sympathetic, but this incoming freshman would have to inspire more than concern to become one of 12 freshmen to cheer for the Razorbacks. The coach would offer "no special consideration" here. Beard would have to do all the stunts, and do them perfectly. There would be no charity for Patience.


When she was six months old, Patience Beard was diagnosed with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency (PFFD), a disease that affects bone growth. Put simply, her left leg would always be shorter than her right. And over the course of years, that would create all kinds of structural problems. So when she was nine months old, Beard's parents allowed doctors to amputate their daughter's left foot and ankle. She would be able to walk, but not without a prosthetic.

Beard's mom and dad worried about their girl falling down. Patience, however, didn't seem to have those concerns. When she was 3, her dad made her a bike with training wheels and a special sleeve that could accommodate her prosthetic leg. Patience demanded the training wheels be removed. Mom said no, but Dad relented. And off Patience went, riding along without training wheels.

)There would be trying times, of course. Patience remembers going to the beach in fifth grade and feeling embarrassed when everyone around her started noticing her leg. "What happened to you?" they asked. Patience told her mom she wanted to wear pants. Her mom told her no.

"That's who you are," she told her daughter. "Don't be ashamed. This is you."

Over time, Patience became a little bit of a show-off. Not in an obnoxious or arrogant way, but in a proud way. Instead of hiding her disability – and that term should be used quite loosely here – she was happy to draw attention to what she could do. She started gymnastics at 4 and cheering in seventh grade. She learned to do pretty much every stunt imaginable, including running flips that look like something out of Gabrielle Douglas' playbook.

In ninth grade, a time when girls are at their most self-conscious, Patience asked her doctors at the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas to outfit her prosthetic leg with a zebra pattern. She kept thinking of new designs, the way most of us look for sleeves for our iPhones. One of her favorites is an M&Ms skin. She also had an American flag skin around the time of 9/11. Patience would win over her high school classmates so much that they named her homecoming queen.



It's a long way from Texarkana to Division I football. Nail knew the cameras would be all over Patience, and some people watching at home would not be kind. Beard would not only have to master all of the difficult moves the squad executes during a 60-minute football game, she'd have to withstand the glare of the spotlight, too.


But she's been fine with that. Beard laughs when told some people in Northwest Arkansas are already describing her as "the girl with the zebra leg." She's still "in shock" that she made Arkansas' cheerleading squad and was deeply moved when a 4-year-old boy with a prosthetic right leg noticed her at a recent Hogs game and wanted to meet her. It was one of the proudest moments of Patience's life.

"She's the kind of person we want," Nail says. "She's a good role model. And she's absolutely qualified."

So qualified, in fact, that when the cheerleaders run laps around the edge of the football field for warm-ups each day, Patience has never come in last. Not once.

The challenges are mostly unseen. That's the thing about cheering – it's supposed to look effortless. You don't see the pain Patience feels from jumping, running, even walking the hills around Fayetteville. All amputees feel it because no prosthetic feels completely comfortable. But you'll never hear Patience mutter a word about that. No special consideration from her coach, no excuses from her.

There is a bit of a challenge, however, for Patience's partner, Kevin Ellstrand. He's the one who has to lift her, and he admits it's a little bit tricky holding a girl up with one arm when a disproportionate amount of her weight is on one side. But Ellstrand and Beard haven't had any issues in the three home games so far. They know the smile should remain even on a rainy Saturday when the team is losing 52-0 to Alabama.

"She's the most positive person I've ever met," says Ellstrand, 22. "I'm inspired every day."

And soon he might be a little bit jealous, too. Patience is considering asking her Dallas hospital for a new prosthetic, in Razorbacks red. "How many people do you know who have an Arkansas leg?" she asks.

For now, she's the one on the sidelines with the zebra leg. She explains she uses that one the most because it goes with just about every outfit she wears.

"You know," she jokes, "I'm a girl."

[Drivetofast]

What a awesome Team

[brotherjim]

What a awesome Team

I totally agree with Richard, and thanks for joining us in this challenge. Amazing meter / member stats by our team in this challenge, as always, all of you are just incredible. I know Sunny wanted to participate, but she is still unable to row. Don't over row yourselves, I know how much you want to be in the top 10. There are other challenges coming up and I know Michelle, Marie, and a few others will be in those with us, so maybe we will be top 10 then.
However, each of you are truly amazing and I know you don't know the meaning of take it easy
Sorry I haven't posted much, but battling my depression, but I am winning.
jim

[Drivetofast]

Also I saw Tanya's Profile. It lit a fire under my butt I'm doing singles and working on double unders Thanks Tanya. Jim we are here for you.

[ronnie1]

Thanks Richard for rowing with us, you are awesome!
Hang in there Jimmy, know it is rough.
Go team!!!!!
Ronnie

[Drivetofast]

Way to Row Sam 1,000,000 Meters

[Kona2]

Hooboy! Way to row, Sam ! Congratulations on achieving a ONE million meter rowing season (again)! We wish you many, MANY more!!

[brotherjim]

Congrats Richard on passing 300K in the challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rivka]

Great rowing to everyone on the team. Outstanding meters! Have a wonderful challenge to all my teammates.

[Drivetofast]

Way to Row Rosita One Million Meters

[brotherjim]

After stroke, a new outlook for soccer coach

STA mentor Salvacion grateful to be back on field


By Al Pike

Foster's Daily Democrat

September 17, 2012 6:25 PM

Two of Dave Salvacion's biggest loves in life are coaching soccer and officiating lacrosse. It takes something serious for him to leave the field in the middle of a game.

Having a stroke qualifies.

The symptoms surfaced during a girls lacrosse game he was working on May 14 in Portsmouth between the Clippers and Bishop Guertin.

"It happened at halftime," Salvacion said. "Everything was tilted sideways. I told my partner something was wrong. I started the second half. I tried to follow the ball, but everything just went sideways."

And his world was about to be turned upside down.

"I called time-out," he said, "and I promptly threw up at the scorer's table. That's basically the last thing I remember other than waking up the following Saturday after my surgeries and getting my last rites. That's how close I was."

According to Salvacion, a blood clot had formed near his heart and traveled to his brain, damaging the part of the brain that controls balance.

"I didn't suspect I was having a stroke," he said. "They said I was lucky it didn't go into my lungs. That would have stopped me dead in my tracks and there would have been no chance."

He had one surgery the day after he was admitted to Portsmouth Regional Hospital to relieve the pressure on his brain and another where doctors had to remove a small part of his brain and skull.

"I lost five days," said Salvacion, who remembers little of the first week he was hospitalized.

Doctors told him there was a 50-50 chance he could die.

"I just said bull crap," he said. "I'm 55 years old. I'm not going down this way."

Salvacion is diabetic and he also suffers from arhythmia, which he said makes him susceptible to clotting.

He spent five weeks in the hospital, where he lost 26 pounds, and has been undergoing out-patient physical and occupational therapy since his release.

"They beat the living crap out of me," Salvacion said. "I want them to. I've been passing all the goals and my tests, so I know I'm on the way up. I'm doing everything I possibly can. Whatever they tell me to do, I do tenfold, and I reap the benefits of it."

Although he was laid up for most of the summer and missed working a major lacrosse tournament in Vail, Colo., his immediate focus was to be healthy enough to coach the St. Thomas Aquinas girls soccer team.

"My first and foremost goal was to get back on the grass," Salvacion said. "I love coaching soccer. I love being on the field."

Although he has good days and bad, he met his timetable and is back coaching the Saints, who improved to 3-3 following Friday's 2-0 win over Con-Val.

"I see the sun come up," he said. "I see the kids happy on the field. It gives my something to look forward to. I know my symptoms. If I get tired I have to rest."

Because Salvacion tires easily, assistant Rhyan Radack has taken on more responsibility. Radack played soccer at St. Thomas and the University of New Hampshire.

Her younger sister, Lilly, is a senior on the current Saints' squad.

"He's kind of given me a larger role," Rhyan Radack said. "He gets tired. It's been great. It gave him a lot of motivation in his recovery to get back here. He's doing really well. I've been impressed with how well he's been able to keep up with the girls.

"They're really a close group of girls," she added. "I think they've come together. They do as much as they can, especially the captains, to help Coach out."

"They're like my mother," Salvacion said with a laugh. "They see the ball coming toward me and they're always screaming, 'Coach!'"

That's because he's supposed to be wearing a protective helmet.

"It's life-changing," Salvacion said of the stroke. "But I'm alive. I'm enjoying life. Without St. Thomas soccer to look forward to I'd be a boring sun of a gun."

He didn't come through the ordeal unscathed. He has vertigo, which is one of the side effects of the stroke.

"It's a symptom I have to work through," he said. "The part of the brain that was destroyed controls your balance. I have a unique vertigo. I call it drunken-sailor vertigo. It's sideways, like you're on a boat.

"The brain is the part of the body that takes the longest to heal," Salvacion added, "but it will heal."

Although he hasn't been able return to work as a chauffeur for Great Bay Limousine, he's gotten plenty of support from the community.

Salvacion said Portsmouth High School and Mary Squire, the Clippers' girls lacrosse coach, held a benefit to help with his medical expenses as did Bishop Guertin.

St. Thomas Aquinas and some of his officiating colleagues have also made donations, he said.

"I'm forever grateful for all the efforts," Salvacion said.

Despite the seriousness of the situation and everything he's been through, the prognosis is good. He's expected to make an almost full recovery.

"I'm just happy to be alive," Salvacion said before adding words of advice.

"Don't ever take anything for granted. Live for the moment. Put a smile on somebody's face every day, and hopefully put a smile on your face. And give back."

[brotherjim]

I had trouble copying this article so sorry if it is not clear. Copied from"Pushing the Limits" by Andy Campbell
jim

The wheelchair is designed to be a replacement for walking, but falls short of allowing anyone to go wherever they want. Only suitable for use on flat and level ground, a wheelchair leaves users almost entirely restricted to man-made urban environments. So what if someone wants to go farther and explore the world beyond wheelchair ramps and concrete or enjoy recreation in the outdoors? They’re dependent on having access to activity-specific adaptive equipment that makes outdoor activities even more inaccessible due to high cost.



BACKGROUND

When I was paralysed my initial excitement at getting in a wheelchair and being mobile again was tempered by the massive frustration of being restricted by lack of equipment. Skiing, climbing, hiking, cycling; anything that provides respite from an everyday reliance on concrete and provides access to the outdoors requires special equipment that is often difficult to find and always expensive.

I was fortunate enough to get a sitski and handcycle that have since allowed me to enjoy a level of freedom and exercise denied to many with a spinal cord injury, who often lose their main source of income and to whom the ‘luxury’ of an activity-specific piece of equipment is not financially possible.

Every year, thousands of people suffer a spinal cord injury, becoming confined to wheelchair accessible environments with extremely limited options for recreational physical activity, an essential part of human life with massive health benefits.
•Only 1% of people with spinal cord injuries fully recover.
•In the UK, 2-3 people become paralysed as a result of a spinal cord injury, every single day.
•In the USA, almost 30 people everyday will suffer a spinal cord injury.
•56% of injuries occur between the ages of 16 and 30.
•20% of people leave spinal cord injury treatment centers clinically depressed.
•Only 10% of people with spinal cord injury own adaptive equipment designed for physical exercise.



Without access to the adaptive equipment necessary for activities, wheelchair users miss valuable opportunities to benefit from the physical, psychological and social rewards outdoor recreation provides. Being able to enjoy the outdoors goes further than simply providing a source of fun, the resulting ‘adventure therapy‘ helps build confidence, self-esteem and physical strength with an outcome that improves every aspect of life.

I believe it’s vital that people with spinal cord injury have access to the equipment they need to enjoy a life outdoors and decided to set up The Chutkara Initiative as a charity to help make the outdoors more accessible to all.

Vision

A world in which people with a spinal cord injury are not restricted from active participation in outdoor recreation by a lack of access to adequate adaptive equipment.

Mission

Provide adaptive equipment to people with spinal cord injuries that will allow them to actively enjoy the natural environment.

Aims
•Provide adaptive outdoor sports equipment for people suffering from a spinal cord injury.
•Raise funds for the provision of adaptive equipment through expeditions and events.
•Promote the outdoor-related opportunities available to people with a spinal cord injury.
•Help provide basic mobility equipment to people with spinal cord injuries in developing nations.

[brotherjim]

Thanks Kona for previous advice that I wrote down on how to post a picture

[Drivetofast]

Just wanted to say its been a honor and pleasure to row with you great people. Keep up the great job Richard T

[brotherjim]

Thank you Ronnie and Rosi for sharing the sad news about Dani (Sunny). Don't know what to say really Please send my sympathy and condolences to her family from me and my family.