Redefining Disability

Retired Army Staff Sergeant Rico Roman had his left leg amputated above the knee after being wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving his third tour in Iraq in February 2007. A Purple Heart recipient, Rico was introduced to sled hockey in 2008 by Operation Comfort, a Move United member organization in San Antonio, TX. He has represented Team USA and played for the National Sled Hockey Team during the past three Winter Paralympic Games, winning three straight gold medals. Although he announced his retirement back in July, he is not walking away from the sport.

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 based in Illinois. She would represent Team USA at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics. Alyssa founded AMG Fitness to elevate at-home workouts specifically for people with disabilities and leads some online fitness classes through Move United OnDemand.

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 Paralympic Games in Rio. But sport is just part of her identity. She is completing a masters degree in sports psychology and continues to serve as a disability advocate.

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 founded Corps Fitness in 2004. He has developed programs like IM FIT, a free fitness class for all adaptive children and young adults to practice the fundamentals of exercising together as well as a mentorship program for adaptive athletes and a program geared around his passion for trails. In 2007, he launched the IM ABLE Foundation, with the mission to remove obstacles that prevent people with disabilities from being physically active. In July, Chris was inducted into the Adaptive Sports Hall of Fame for his contributions to the adaptive sports community.

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 2012 and then finished second that year at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Afterwards, he would pursue alpine skiing and was a member of the U.S. Paralympic ski team. In 2017, he got serious about archery and would win the gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

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 was the first American wounded in the war, and the war’s first Purple Heart recipient.

Alva was also among the first warfighters Move United served from Operation Iraq Freedom, learning how to ski and scuba dive . As a member of Move United’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Committee and in his work around the country, Eric has been an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community .

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 Pinehurst.

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 is a 5X Paralympian and 5X Paralympic Medalist. In 2009, Rudy also became the world's first double above-knee amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon.

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 speaking and serving as an advocate for people with disabilities. He currently serves as the interim director at Teton Adaptive, a Move United member organization.