Redefining Disability

Jason Tabansky grew up in South Texas. He spent over 15 years in the U.S. Army as a helicopter crewmember and instructor and had deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. He incurred a spinal cord injury due to an epidural abscess, which compressed his spinal cord. Jason participated in a golf clinic with Move United in 2018, but then really got into archery. He has competed in the Texas Regional Games and helped out with the Kinetic Kids program. But just last month, he won a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.

Chris Hammer was born with one hand, the result of a congenital condition. He grew up playing multiple sports such as baseball and ice hockey, but ran cross country in high school. He would continue distance running at Grand Valley State University. In 2013, he would also get into paratriathlon. The 4X Paralympian earned his first gold medal last month at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. He’s also been a coach, earned a master’s degree in sports administration and a PhD in sports psychology.

Courtney Ryan was playing on the women’s soccer team at Metropolitan State University in Denver when she suffered an injury that left her paralyzed. She would be recruited by and transferred to the University of Arizona to play wheelchair basketball and finish her degree, winning a national title there as well. At the 2020 and 2024 Paralympic Games, she has been an integral member of Team USA’s medal efforts. In addition to being a player, she is also a coach. We talk about adaptive sports, mental health, and more.

Casey Orndorff was born with cerebral palsy. He got started in sports by joining his track team in high school and then the cross country team his senior year. This propelled him to earn a cross country scholarship to West Virginia Tech, where he competed all four years and served as the team captain. As an adult, he has continued to compete in a number of events, including the Little Rock Half Marathon, the UCO Endeavor Games, and The Hartford Nationals conducted by Move United. But in addition to being an athlete, he has also gone on to earn a master’s degree in mathematics and a PhD in computational analysis and modeling.

On August 27, 2007, an IED destroyed the vehicle that U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Matthew Scholten was riding in near Bagdad, Iraq, causing a spinal fusion, traumatic brain injury, and more. During recovery, Matthew was introduced to adaptive sports. He tried out for the Army Warrior Games team in 2016 and made it to the final rounds of selection. But since its inception, Matthew has been a part of the Kansas City Wheelchair Football Team, playing in the Championship game every year to this point. Now he’s gearing up for the 2024 season, so let’s chat with him.

Kendra Herber had a birth deformity when she was born that resulted in becoming an amputee at the age of 2. It's a title that she has both struggled with and felt extreme pride in throughout the years. Kendra has been a world ranked para triathlete, model, speaker, disability advocate, and high school teacher. She is also the author of “Whole: A Leg Up on Life.” She has also taken up the sport of tennis and is currently leading an adaptive tennis program in Cincinnati, Ohio.

When Zion Walker was in fifth grade, he started attending the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind in Staunton, Virginia. Around the age of 12, his older brother Sean was playing the sport of goalball and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. He also played basketball, ran cross country, and competed in track. As a blind athlete, goalball became his primary sport. He would move from his home in Winchester, VA to Washington DC and played there for a couple of years, before moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana to join the men’s national goalball team headquartered at Turnstone, a Move United member organization. He is now in Paris preparing for his first Paralympic Games.

Samantha Heyison was born with constricted band syndrome impacting the formation of some of her limbs. She started playing sports early on, including soccer, softball, and basketball but eventually focused on track and field. Samantha is a three-time high school state champion in Maryland and currently is a red shirt freshman at Wake Forest University. In 2021, she attended her first para track and field development camp and went on to compete at the Desert Challenge Games in 2022 and was part of the Move United delegation to IWAS in Portugal later that year. Now, she is heading to Paris to compete in her first Paralympic Games this summer.

Eric Newby was injured in a car accident on the night of his high school graduation, Eric found independence and freedom when he was introduced to wheelchair rugby 5 weeks afterwards. He credits the sport for rebuilding his confidence and independence, for pulling him out of depression and realizing his full potential. Now he is a 10 year veteran of the national team, a 2X Paralympic silver medalist, and captain of the team going into Paris. He also works for DASA, a Move United member organization in St. Louis and coaches the local team. And, wheelchair rugby also led him to meet his wife Megan and two kids.

John Register is a combat veteran and Paralympic Silver Medalist in long jump. He founded the United States Olympic Committee’s Paralympic Military Sports Program and served as the Acting CEO of the Amputee Coalition. He is an advocate, author, life coach, and sought out TEDx speaker. You can learn more about his book and work at johnregister.com.