Willie Stewart was working construction in the Watergate Building in Washington, D.C. not long after graduating from high school. His arm got entangled in a rope and, as he was being dragged toward a huge fan, the all-state wrestler had two options: lose his head or lose his arm. It was a moment that would…
To me, what The Challenged Athletes Foundation does so well is to provide independence to people facing unbelievable challenges in their lives. I invited three amazing athletes to come in studio to talk about what they have had to overcome along the way. Roderick Sewell, Rudy Garcia-Tolson and Blake Leeper are three athletes with no legs…
Scout Bassett is 4’9” tall and weighs all of 84 pounds. On a wall inside the Challenged Athletes Foundation headquarters, there is a classic photo of Scout back-to-back with NBA Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who is 6’11” tall. The quote next to the photo? “It’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play.” Scout…
The date was April 4, 2004. Camp Taji is located 30 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. Army Major Anthony Smith, a former scholarship athlete at Alcorn State University in Lorman, Miss. in football, basketball and track, was part of the 1st Calvary Division, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. “We were a special operations group that…
Jim MacLaren – at one time the world’s fastest amputee triathlete – passed away on August 31, 2010 at the age of 47. His life was short but amazingly impactful. The Challenged Athletes Foundation is Jimmy’s legacy. I‘m proud to say that, through the athletes we help every day, his impact will live on forever.…
Recently, a friend sent me a link to a piece of video from what we think was Robin William’s first ever triathlon experience at the Malibu Triathlon in 1997 where he rode the bike on a relay team with two-time Ironman champion and great friend Scott Tinley. In the video were triathlon legends Paula Newby-Fraser and Wendy…
Jim MacLaren was a 300 pound football player at Yale. In 1985, he was on his motorcycle heading to an acting class in New York City when he was hit by a New York City bus and thrown 90 feet in the air. He was dead on arrival at the hospital but somehow survived and…