Here at PEMBA, we’ve been examining opportunities for #OIBIZ these past few months. We started with our challenge to get more women outdoors, and we’ve heard how we can get more kids outside as well. The truth is that there are many, many communities that we can engage in order to get more people involved with recreating outside. In doing so, we can do more than just grow #OIBIZ; we can change lives. Nowhere is that more apparent than in our guest post today. Our friend Malcolm Daly of Paradox Sports tells us what it’s like to wake up one day with your world suddenly changed, and how that doesn’t change who you are. In fact, if anything it makes you focus on what’s important to you. Check it out…
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Frank was riding his bike home on a frozen winter night when his wheels went out from under him as he crossed a set of railroad tracks. His head hit the pavement and he was knocked out—right in front of an on-coming train. He’s now missing his right leg and the front of his left foot
Christa was volunteering for a literacy program in Haiti when the earthquake hit. The building collapsed on her foot and it had to be amputated.
Robb went to the hospital with a severe pain in his left foot. He woke up three weeks later with both feet amputated and the necrotizing fasciitis eating away at his hands.
Kate had osteosarcoma when she was 13 and they had to take her knee. In the US, they chop it off and give you a mechanical knee and foot. In Canada, Kate’s home, they perform a rotation-plasty surgery where they amputate above the knee and below the knee. Then they sew your shin bone to your thigh bone, backwards, and what was your ankle is now your knee. It looks kind of funny but Kate is as mobile as you and I are.
Mike fell down the Snake Coulior on Mt. Sneffels, slammed into the rock at the bottom and broke his back. The doctors told him he’ll never walk again.
Chad had an IED go off under his Humvee in Iraq, blowing the 3-inch thick steel blast plate upward with enough force to crush his foot from the bottom up. Nine months and 17 surgeries later it was easy to make the decision to amputate: He knew he wanted to climb again and he knew he could do it as an amputee but not as a cripple.
Quinn was avalanched off a mountain in China and ended up with frostbite so severe they amputated both feet and all 10 digits. The doctors split the paddles that were what was left of his hands into lobster-claws so he could dress himself, train his horses and swing an ice axe.
Beth broke her neck in a car wreck when she was 18. She’s got no feeling or function from her stomach down. Then she got married and had three kids. Then she got divorced and raised those kids on her own. While all that was going on, she qualified for the US Paralympic Team in Nordic Skiing. Imagine that!
These are the stories of just some of the amazing people who call themselves Team Paradox. We come from all walks of life, from all parts of the country and from any country. We’re your bus drivers, graphic artists, dentists, food servers and park rangers. We’re all around, but we’re not a very big group. Hell, if we all got together and outfitted ourselves at a large specialty store we’d hardly blip the monthly sales, so why are we important?
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