Redefining Disability

Alyssa Gialamas was encouraged to try swimming by coach Glen O'Sullivan. Once she started, she found that she felt free in the water because she did not have to wear braces and was not sitting in a chair. She was born with arthrogryposis, which affects the use of joints and muscles. She began para swimming in 2008 at the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, a Move United member organization ba...

Lacey Henderson was just nine years old when her leg was amputated above the knee. Although she played various sports growing up, she particularly became fond of cheerleading, earning a scholarship to participate in the sport at the University of Denver. In 2012, she decided to give track and field a try and fell in love with that sport. Four years later, Lacey would represent Team USA at the Para...

Chris Kaag served in the United States Marine Corps for almost five years. At the age of 21, Chris was diagnosed with a rare degenerative condition affecting his nerve cells and was discharged from the Marine Corps. He began to walk with a cane, then two canes. His condition continued to worsen, and he soon transitioned to a wheelchair. With new direction and a “don’t quit on me” attitude, Chris f...

In July 2009, Kevin Mather was on a training ride in the foothills of Los Angeles with a group of friends when he was hit by a truck. His athletic pursuits continued on. Like a story in a book, his athletic career went through various chapters. Early on, he focused on competing in marathons, triathlons, and even Ironman competitions. He would finish first in his category at the L.A. Marathon in 20...

Myranda Mishler was born with spina bifida. Growing up, she played a couple of different sports but really found her calling when she was introduced to wheelchair racing while in high school. She’s now a junior at the University of Arizona and is competing at the college and national level, recently winning six silver medals at Move United Junior Nationals.

US Marine Staff Sergeant Eric Alva’s unit was among the first to cross the border into Iraq for the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Three hours into the ground war, near Basra, while stepping out of his vehicle, Alva triggered a landmine, throwing him 15 feet that left him with a broken left leg, severely nerve-damaged broken right arm and a badly injured right leg that was later amputated. He w...

Born without a right foot and a severely clubbed left foot, Kim Moore would play various sports as a youth. But then she found golf and realized she could compete in that sport at a high level, earning a scholarship to play collegiate golf at the University of Indianapolis. She is now the head golf coach at Western Michigan University and just won the U.S. Adaptive Open Golf Tournament at Pinehurs...

Rudy Garcia-Tolson endured 15 surgeries by the age of five before telling his parents he'd rather have a double leg amputation...By age 8, he had already become active in swimming, running and triathlons...At that age, he stated that he wanted to compete at the Paralympic Games and eight years later, Rudy made good on his promise when he swam to gold at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. Now he...

In 2010, Joe Stone nearly died after crashing into a mountain at almost 50 MPH while speed flying, a form of paragliding. The accident left him with a spinal cord injury leaving him paralyzed from the chest down and with impairment in both his hands. Joes’s work has been focused on bridging the gap between people with and without disabilities through outdoor recreation and has traveled the country...

Mandy Willmore received a scholarship to play basketball at college. While in Hawaii for a tournament, she would become paralyzed while surfing. At first, she wanted nothing to do with wheelchair basketball, but that mindset would eventually change. For the past 2 years Mandy has attended the University of Wisconsin -Whitewater to obtain her MBA and would play for the women’s wheelchair basketball...

Lauren Haneke-Hopps just graduated from the University of Alabama, earning a master’s degree in exercise and sports science. Not only did she excel as a student, being on the Dean’s List and named as an Academic All-American, but she is an elite wheelchair tennis player, winning several single and double competitions, medaling at at the ITA World Team Cup, and being named a Collegiate National Cha...

Just two years after a spinal cord injury, David Kiley made the USA National Team in basketball. At his first Paralympic Games in 1976, he would win gold medals in all five of his events, including one in basketball but also four in track. In all, he would represent the US in six Paralympics in three sports (the other being alpine skiing, where he also won gold). During his career, DK became the o...

Steve Martin served in the U.S. Army. After completing his military service, he would become an Arizona State Trooper. Then 9/11 happened. That moment led to him to joining the State Department as part of a team embedded with the military in Afghanistan. During a mission in 2008, Steve would be wounded by an IED. After a year and a half of going through limb salvage, he would have both legs amputa...

Catarina Guimaraes is a second-degree black belt, won 2 silver medals at the 2018 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports competition in Ireland, was recently named a CP Soccer World Cup All-Star and has held various national track and field records. And at 18 years old, she is just getting started. We chat with her just before she is set to compete at Move United Junior Nationals presented by...

Barry Weintraub is an activity-based exercise specialist at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, a Move United member organization based in Minneapolis. He has coached wheelchair softball and basketball. Barry created the wheelchair lacrosse program there and has served on the board of Wheelchair Lacrosse USA. Sow we chat with him about hitting the sticks.

Sam Maddaus is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Two years into his Naval assignment in San Diego and after coming back from deployment, he would be in a motorcycle accident. The injuries would result in a below the knee amputation about a month into his rehabilitation. He was worried he would never be able to box or snowboard again, but five months after his amputation he found himself in Vai...

Daniel Hersh co-founded the Colorado Rolling Mammoth wheelchair lacrosse team in 2011 and has been highly involved ever since. In addition to serving as the team’s captain, he also serves on the board of Wheelchair Lacrosse USA.

Jessie Cloy is a 4X Paralympian in the sport of track and field, earning 7 medals at the Paralympic Games over her career. She first got involved in wheelchair racing through Children’s Lightning Wheels in New Jersey after a car accident. After retiring from competition, she continued to stay involved in adaptive sports as an official, a coach, a volunteer and now coordinates Move United Junior Na...

Ellen Minzner is the Director of Para High Performance for US Rowing, where she focuses on athlete identification and development. Previously, she served as the Director of Inclusion and Advocacy at Community Rowing, a Move United member organization in Boston, where she and her team of coaches and staff pioneered a model for serving people with disabilities, military veterans, and underserved you...

In 1999, Norm Page started working as a volunteer coach with the Buffalo Sabres sled hockey team when his 7 year old son Adam started playing. As president of the program he helped build the first sled accessible rink in Buffalo and over the years would see some of their local players make the USA National Sled Hockey Team, including Adam. For about 12 years, he would serves as the sled hockey rep...

Steve Serio started playing wheelchair basketball when he was 14 years old and went on to play at the University of Illinois where he led the team to a national championship. He would play professionally in Germany for a few years and also in four Paralympic Games for Team USA, bringing home back to back gold medals in 2016 and 2020. He is equally interested in the difference he makes off the cour...

Jennifer Fitz-Roy is training with the high performance team at US Rowing and is hoping to make the national team this year. She learned to row at Community Rowing Inc. a Move United member organization based in Boston and now serves as the organization’s manager of para and military programs. Jen is a graduate of Boston College, a mentor to disabled youth, and a fierce advocate for inclusion and...

Retired U.S. Army Private First Class Orlando Perez became paralyzed as a result of a training accident. One of the first adaptive sports he fell in love with was wheelchair basketball and he had the opportunity to play for the Puerto Rican team at the international stage. Then he discovered alpine skiing and turned his attention to compete in this sport at the elite level, training with the Natio...

Jacob Pacheco is a content creator, entrepreneur, model, speaker, professional surfer, and he also adapts to life with Cerebral Palsy. Jacob’s platform often focuses on empowerment and optimization. Throughout Jacob's life, he’s faced incredible adversity including bullying, medical setbacks and intense surgeries that left him immobile, abuse, and depression. Despite these challenges, Jacob thrive...

Nicole Roundy spent six years as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Snowboard Team, being one of the first athletes to compete in the sport of para snowboarding. She would compete in two Winter Paralympic Games in 2014 and 2018. Now that she is retired from the sport, she has turned her attention to her vocation. Since completing her MBA, she has become an email marketing guru in the corporate sector...