Mohammad “Shams Aalam” Shaikh; para swimmer has his sights set on the 2018 Asian Para Games. We have every confidence that Shams Aalam will be the emerging winner at this upcoming para event. Why are we so sure? In 2014, Shams set a world record and he holds a title in the Limca Book of World Records for the longest open sea swimming Continue reading
When RL first met Sergio, we ran into him on the tennis courts at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert, California. After chatting it up with him, we discovered that not only does he have a passion for two-bounce tennis (tennis played in a wheelchair) but he is also just as passionate about the work he creates as a potter. Continue reading
Today, I was asked if I was wheelchair bound. The question actually threw me off guard for a moment and I found myself struggling to answer the question. I can’t quite recall my exact answer but I babbled something about being able to use my walker to walk around the house 5 or 10 percent of the time.
As the day progressed, I continued to think about that question and my discomfort with the answer I gave. Why did I feel like a liar for telling the truth. Continue reading
Gulfam Ahmed, is what we like to refer to as a “triple threat”. He’s a model, an athlete and a stand up comedian with a bachelor degree in social work. Handsome, smart, stylish and funny wrapped up into one package. You can’t ask for more than that! The RL team reached out to Gulfam for his story and here is what he had to tell us about a tumultuous journey of orthopedic impairment and his will to defy the odds and his persistence to make a name for himself…..
My Triumph….
Throughout my eighteen years of life, I have always been very active, always involved with sports and anything that has to do with presence of speed. By the age of 18, I achieved two black belts. One was in Mu Duk Kwan and my most recent was Tae Kwan Do. I spent my high school career playing rugby with some of the best guys I can call my friends. Since I was five years old I began to develop a passion for motocross. I got my first bike at the age of five and have been riding ever since and even started to compete at local race tracks.
When RL first met Domonic Corradin at the 2016 Disability Sports Festival Coachella Valley, we immediately thought, now here is a guy who has the “wow factor” written all over him. RL just had to find out more about him, his story and what makes him tick. So after stalking him for several weeks on social media, we contacted him and he agreed to meet with us, allowing us take some photos and to ask him some personal questions about his life.
Dominic grew up in a small town in western Michigan on a small “hobby” farm with goats, chickens, guinnea hens, dogs and cats. On one catastrophic day in December 1994, while driving toward home from soccer practice, Domonic suffered a T-5/6 spinal cord injury as a result of a car accident. He spent one week in ICU and an additional six weeks in a rehabilitation hospital. The very next day after leaving the rehabilitation hospital, Dominic was sitting in his classroom at Whitehall High School. At this early age, Dominic already had the desire to “get back to life” as soon as possible. Not only did he want to get back to life but while he was still hospitalized he was also giving back by being a peer mentor to the children in the pediatric unit where he was treated. Continue reading
McKenzie was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome and was missing her right foot and leg below the knee. Also, she has her pinkies and thumbs but she was born with her fingers webbed together which had to be separated by surgery. Continue reading
