A CELEBRATION OF WHEELS: ROLL MODELS
TODAY 
YOU'LL FIND
MANY SUCCESSFUL 'ROLL' MODELS
. . . making their way in the
walking and working world 
 Rick Hansen of Vancouver, Canada, wheeled 25,000 miles around the world in 1985 in a stunning two-year marathon through 34 countries, changing a lot of minds about what 'possible' means. Today, after winning wheelchair marathons and competing in the Olympics, he's focused on building his Rick Hansen Institute to benefit spinal cord research and rehabilitation.  Ralf Hotchkiss, shown here in his California workshop, received the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Genius Award for his pioneering Whirlwind project to bring modern, inexpensive wheelchairs to the third world. Read more about his exciting venture here.  Graham Sisson, at left, was paralyzed at 17 as he prepared to become
a West Point cadet. He is now a lawyer who serves as deputy attorney general of Alabama,
specializing in disability issues.Patrick Schwabenbauer is with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, and maintains a cleverly programmed personal website, currently offline..
Jesse Daikan McKinney has
written a powerful book on perceptions versus the reality of disability, A Mind on
Wheels: The Inner Journey.
Check out
this
website to preview some selected essays, which will convince you this is a
'gotta-have' publication.
Doug Maurer is a computer systems programmer for the South Carolina State Ports Authority in Charleston. Dug Jones is director of the Center for Student Leadership and Activities at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida.
Greg Palumbo is city manager of Country Club Hills,
Illinois, near Chicago. |
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Barry Corbet, above, was on
the team that scaled Mount Everest in 1963, before his spinal injury. More recently, he
was editor of New Mobility magazine, where he occupied a rolling "Bully
Pulpit" on disability issues. Search the NM
archives for 'Corbet' and read some of his work.
Mark E. Smith of San Francisco, above, overcame cerebral palsy to
become a popular speaker and writer. Visit his resourceful site,
WheelchairJunkie.com
for his expert advice on buying a chair, and essays by his alter ego, Count Cripula.
You'll appreciate Mark's sharp wit and wisdom.
Steve Mikita is assistant attorney general of Utah.
Chris Sheridan of Los Angeles,
above, is a filmmaker and New Age humorist who does one-man plays and has performed his
'sit-down' comedy act on the USA cable network. Explore his world
here.
Scott Duffey, a quadriplegic, paints remarkable abstracts and
portraits on Long Island, New York. His works may be purchased through his
web site.
Steve Dowman of Orlando, above, invented 'The
Grasshopper' with help from a group of fellow mechanical engineering students at the
University of Central Florida.
Sean Scott of Linden, North Carolina, above, loves to fly and gladly abandons his
wheels to take to the air in his weightshift trike.
Here's a story about his flights of
fancy you'll enjoy!
Sheree
Sainz of Valdosta, Georgia, while a mother of two teens, earned a master's
degree. She
swims, teaches at a technical institute, plays wheelchair basketball.
Todd Maness of Robbins, North Carolina, above, coaches high school
football from his sip-and-puff wheelchair, and enjoys a career as an artist, painting with
the brush held in his mouth. See and buy his paintings at his
Red Rider Studios.
Josh Fabian is a stockbroker in Chicago, and attorney
There
are many others. . .
Kenny Clayton of Madisonville, Kentucky, is a pharmacist.
Dave Stange, coach of the Chicago Wheelchair Bulls, is a credit manager in Mt.
Prospect, Illinois. Scott Kauffman is an accountant with a
manufacturing firm in Bremen, Georgia.
Bob Masella,
above,
owns his own law firm in Columbia, South Carolina, and is a competitive,
nationally ranked
wheelchair tennis enthusiast.
Jayne Fortson completed her medical degree and multiple residencies in dermatology
while in a wheelchair. Injured in a caving accident while in college, she went on to
become a winning wheelchair athlete. Since 1990 she's lived in Anchorage, Alaska,
where her young family and a thriving medical practice share time with skiing and
swimming.
Nate Besio became
a quad from a 1990 diving accident and then a hearing- impaired bilateral
arm amputee from a 1992 case of Meningococ-cemia. Today, as
business manager at the Vermont
Genetics Network at the University of Vermont, he credits his success to
family, mentors, friends -- and a
positive approach to life.
"I made people see me, not the disability," Nate says.
Marshall Luskot is an organic farmer in Platina, California, who adapted his farm equipment for wheelchair use and now owns an Herb Blossom Farm.
John Ryan, above, a realtor in Whistler, British
Columbia, handcycled across Canada in summer 1999 raising funds for
spinal cord research.
Wendy Murphy, above, is an on-camera reporter covering community events for CityTV in Toronto, Ontario.
Don Vandello operates a plumbing supply in Walworth, Wisconsin, and plays
wheelchair basketball for Chicago.
Eddie Bland is a middle school principal in Rochester, Texas.
Paul Aziz, above, was injured in a diving accident in 1983.
Today he is an Oregon wood-carver who
handcrafts music boxes, bowls, vases, pens, letter openers and desk sets. You can buy his
creations on his
website.
Richard Fuchs is a
12th grade school teacher and motivational
speaker in Salt Lake City, Utah.
O.J. Waddell, injured in a 1979 drive-by shooting, spent 16 years persuading the California Horse Racing Board to license him as a harness racing driver, but he succeeded. Today he competes as the sport's only para driver.