Redefining Disability

Zion Redington started playing wheelchair basketball as a youth in Tennessee and played a number of adaptive sports as well, competing at the Endeavor Games and other competitions. He is now the youngest member of the national wheelchair rugby team with the hope of making Team USA for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

Zack Shattuck discovered swimming in 2015, but didn’t start swimming competitively until college, where he swam for four years at Frostburg State University. The Mount Airy, Maryland native went on to compete at the 2020 Paralympics and recently earned a silver and bronze at the Parapan American Games in Chile. In addition to competing personally, he is also coaching.

As an infant in India, Minda Dentler contracted polio, resulting in the paralysis of her legs. As a young adult, she discovered the sport of handcycling. She would become the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship and would be nominated for an ESPN ESPY Award. She is also known for her popular TED Talk and is the author of the new children’s book, “The Girl Who...

Victoria Isaacson is a wheelchair fencer with a goal of competing at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. In addition to being an elite athlete herself, she also coaches fencing and has recently completed her doctorate degree and is an occupational therapist.

In June 2021, US Marine Corps Captain Andrew Hairston entered his first event as a handcyclist while still rehabbing at Walter Reed Hospital from an accident that resulted in the amputation of his leg. Later that year, he entered his first marathon. Now he is training hard to qualify for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. In addition, he is the founder of Salvage Life, a Move United member organizatio...

Army Staff Sergeant Michael Kacer was injured as a result of a mortar attack in Afghanistan on June 18, 2008. In 2017, he started competing in Taekwondo, to help improve his mental health and confidence. He won a silver medal at the 2017 Pan Am Invitational and recently represented the United States at the Parapan American Games in Chile.

Will Castillo was born in Colombia, South America and immigrated to the United States when he was five years old, living in Queens, New York. After 9/11, Will joined the US Army and served for ten years, including two deployments. The vehicle he was riding in was struck by an IED killing the driver and gunner. Will lost a leg, developed a traumatic brain injury and experienced Post Traumatic Stres...

Sarah Bofinger began swimming before she could walk. At age six, she joined the Frederick Area Swim Team in Frederick, Maryland. She was born with hip dysplasia and had her first surgery at 4 months old. She's since had a total of seven hip surgeries. Sarah recently represented Team USA at the Parapan American Games in Chile.

On October 28, 1989, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2 Rhonda Liddell was struck by a drunk driver, resulting in a permanent loss of range of motion and neuropathy in her right arm as well as damage to her shoulder and traumatic brain injury. She intends to compete in the sport of Para Skeleton at the Invictus Games in 2025 and also hopes to qualify for and attend a USGA Adaptive Open in the one-armed cla...

Max Togisala is a rising professional golfer who most recently placed 17th overall in the 2023 U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst. Originally on track to play collegiate golf, his life took a dramatic turn in February 2022, when a skiing accident in Sun Valley, Idaho severed his spinal cord and left him paralyzed from the waist down. Adaptive golfing equipment, such as the VertaCat, enabled Max to pl...

David Horvath, who was born with spina bifida, discovered the sport of powerlifting through a gym class in high school and realized that it was the sport for him. He would then learn about DASA, a Move United member organization based in the St. Louis area, which helped him improve his skills. In 2021, he joined the U.S. national team and has competed in some Move United sanctioned competitions. M...

While in Bahrain in 2001, U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Charlene Williams experienced the onset of a detached retina, hearing loss, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury. She has tried a number of adaptive sports, but golf is the one that excites her the most. In addition to maintaining an active lifestyle, she is also working to complete her Ph. D.

While serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, Chris Young was paralyzed in a plane crash in Alaska. He began adaptive skiing in 1986 and was named to the U.S. Disabled Ski Team in 1989. At the 1994 Winter Paralympics, Young won a gold medal in slalom. He would win another gold medal at the 2002 Winter Paralympic Games in Super G. Among his many other titles and wins, he won the X Games in 2015 in monoski...

Saylor O’Brien was born with spina bifida. She started skiing with Wasatch Adaptive Sports, a Move United member organization when she was just four years old. She loved going fast, so when she was around 10, she decided to ski race. Saylor found the National Ability Center, another Move United member organization in Utah, to hone her skills. She qualified for the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, but...

In 2003, and at 8 years old, Ohio native Derick Byrd was treated for osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer in his left tibia that required a knee replacement with 8 inches of titanium implanted into his femur. The implant replaced his shin bone, until 2008 when he had his left leg amputated above the knee. A year later, Derick attended the program at Breckenridge Outdoors Education Center (BOEC), a...

Kimber Cross was born with one hand—she has adapted and modified to excel in sports as a kid and now climbing as an adult. She is an adaptive climber who uses a custom prosthetic ice tool to climb waterfall ice around the country as well as alpine ice routes in her home state of Washington. Kimber serves as a climb leader for The Mountaineers, a volunteer-based organization in Washington state tha...

Allie Johnson was born with a limb deficiency, and began therapeutic horseback riding at age five. That eventually led to her becoming a part of the equestrian staff at NSCD, a Move United member organization based in Colorado. It was there, she also started to take up ski racing and attended Ski Spectacular in 2018. Just last year, she had the opportunity to represent the US at the Winter Paralym...

After moving to Colorado in 2006, Sam Sala began hiking and climbing CO’s 14ers. He began volunteering with Paradox Sports in 2015 and now serves as the organization’s program manager. Sam has received training and certifications as an AMGA Single Pitch Instructor, as well as NOLS Wilderness First Aid. In his role, he works as an Adaptive Climbing Initiative Lead Instructor and is the Team Manager...

Nico Calabria started playing amputee soccer when he was 16 years old. He has served as the team captain for the U.S. National Amputee Soccer Team and is a board member of the American Amputee Soccer Association. He talks about the growth of the sport nationally, including the first national amputee soccer championships that just took place in Columbus.

Marci Krown attended Kent State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science in Recreation Management. She then moved to Atlanta, where she got involved in the 1996 Paralympic Games. Now based in southern California, Krown is a filmmaker who is currently working on a documentary entitled “The Power of Sports for Amputees”

Adam Bleakney has served as the Head Coach of the University of Illinois Wheelchair Track and Road Racing team since 2005. In that time his athletes have won 55 medals across four Paralympic Games while setting 14 world records on the track and winning a number of major marathons. In 2017, he also established the Human Performance and Mobility Maker Lab, a lab where students with and without disab...

After earning a master’s degree in international affairs, Laura Root was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy. In 2011, during her first tour, she was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. A few years later, Laura competed at the Invictus Games and then became a National Air Rifle shooting champion in 2015. But also, she is an avid Nordic skier and gets on the snow as much as possible to preve...

Brian Von Herbulis spent nearly 17 years leading special operations units with the US Marine Corps, including a number of combat deployments. So nature, and being outdoors, has always been therapeutic for him. As the Director of Operations for Higher Ground, a Move United member organization based in Idaho, Brian, or Von as he is known as, helps provide outdoor recreation and adventures for other...

Sports have always played a role in Cristian Martinez’s life. He served in the Marine Corps, including two combat tours but had his leg amputated below the knee as the result of a motorcycle accident. After rehabilitation, he discovered para snowboarding and has been active in that sport and others. Cristian is finishing up his degree in recreational therapy and hopes to also make a difference in...

Lindsey Zurbrugg was unsure of what a future in sports would look like for her when she became disabled at the age of 13. But then she found wheelchair basketball. She now plays for the USA Women's Wheelchair Basketball National Team and won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. What is really cool is that was recently selected to be the first female athlete to appear on special-edition Cr...