Redefining Disability

David Van Sleet is an Army veteran who was employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs for 30+ years in the clinical and administrative areas of Prosthetics. In 1998, he was selected as the VA National Prosthetic Chief of the Year and in 2011, was awarded the VA’s top award for Outstanding Achievement in the Rehabilitation of War Injured Veterans. After retiring from the government, David founded and manages the nationally known Louisville Slugger Warriors, an extremely competitive amputee baseball team.

Patrick Jenkins is the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of COSTA, a Move United member organization and provides surf instruction and surf therapy support. Patrick is a native Floridian and has worked in the nonprofit community for 25 years. He has been surfing since he was 12 and instructing for the last 10 years. Patrick developed a strong sense of devotion for COSTA as he believes surfing is a way to improve quality of life and promote positive mental health for veterans.

Cheri Madsen made history as the first Native American woman to win an Olympic Medal, securing Bronze in the 800m exhibition contest at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Born in Omaha, Nebraska and an enrolled member of the Omaha Tribe, Cheri was paralyzed at age 3 after a viral infection in her spine and began wheelchair racing as a teenager in 1994. Two years later, she qualified for the 1996 Paralympics. Her athletic career spans four Paralympic Games (1996, 2000, 2016, and 2020) and includes 10 Paralympic medals, including 2 gold, 5 silver, and 3 bronze. For her accomplishments, she was recently inducted in the Adaptive Sports Hall of Fame.

Anastasia Pagonis is a 2x Paralympian and 2x Paralympic medalist, earning one gold and one bronze, competing in the S11 classification for visually impaired athletes. She was diagnosed with autoimmune retinopathy and lost her vision completely by the age of 14. Outside of the pool, Anastasia, or Tas, is a social media influencer, fashion guru, and disability and mental health advocate. She recently joined us at The Hartford Nationals in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Born with spina bifida after his dad was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Josh Turek overcame 21 surgeries by the age of 12. He found the game of wheelchair basketball and would represent the U.S. at four Paralympics, including two gold medals. He currently serves as a State Legislator in Iowa and is currently running to represent his home state in the United State Senate.

Johnnie Williams enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving two years and one tour in Iraq. He would sustain an injury as the result of a Humvee accident in 2003 and would be introduced to adaptive sports as part of his recovery. He would make his way to a Paralympic Sport Camp hosted by the University of Central Oklahoma, a Move United member organization and take up the field sports of javelin and discuss. After medaling at the 2015 Parapan American Games, Johnnie would go on to compete at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio. Now he is a coach with Oklahoma Youth Parasports.

At age 2, Amie Day sustained a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a car accident. Discovering wheelchair racing at 12 gave her a sense of purpose and freedom. Starting with Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association, or GLASA, Amie quickly rose through the ranks winning multiple medals at the 1998 and 1999 World Games. She would then compete for Team USA at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney at just 17 years old. Amie now serves as a para track coach and lifelong advocate for adaptive athletics.

Nico Calabria is a four-time U.S. Men's Amputee Soccer Team captain, board member of the American Amputee Soccer Association, and founder of the New England Amputee Soccer Association. An above-the-knee amputee who joined the national team in 2011, Nico has spent more than a decade not only competing at the highest levels of the sport but actively building the infrastructure around it — helping grow the domestic program from a single national team with no grassroots base to a network of programs operating across the country. He sees amputee soccer as one of the most accessible adaptive sports in the world.

Crystal Skahan is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire's Department of Recreation Management and Policy. In addition, Crystal serves as the Education and Training Director at Northeast Passage, a Move United member organization affiliated with UNH’s College of Health and Human Services. A practitioner-scholar with expertise in adaptive sport and therapeutic recreation, they focus on accessibility in recreation. Crystal is involved with the American Canoe Association Universal Paddling Committee, so we are chatting today about adaptive paddleboarding.

Mia Busk grew up in Alabama as the youngest of seven siblings, playing soccer, swimming, gymnastics, and more from an early age — almost always the only athlete with a limb difference on her teams. Born without her left arm, she found her way to amputee soccer at 18 through an unlikely chain of connections and is now a goalkeeper on the U.S. Women's Amputee Soccer team. She competed internationally with the team in Colombia, where the U.S. earned second place, and has since become an advocate for the sport, using social media to raise awareness and encouraging fellow amputees to give it a try. Off the field, Mia is pursuing a degree in Industrial Systems Engineering, with aspirations to start an amputee soccer team closer to her home in Birmingham.