Winter Garden veteran, PVA work to establish National Wheelchair Games team

WINTER GARDEN  Traveling in and out of state to races is nothing new for Winter Garden resident and veteran Sean Gibbs. He spends two to three hours per day, six days a week training, and competes in triathlons and more — all in either his handcycle or wheelchair.

Gibbs entered the U.S. Marines in 1991, right after the first Gulf War started. He never went to conflict, but he served in multiple duty stations, spending two years in Japan and two operations each in Thailand and Korea. 

After his overseas duties, he arrived back in the United States and served at Camp Pendleton until he was paralyzed from the waist down after a motorcycle crash in March 1995. 

But he didn’t let that prognosis stop his zest for life and his competitive spirit. Gibbs ran cross country and track throughout his high-school years, so he went back to what had become second nature to him — racing.

“I spent about three months in the VA hospital in San Diego, got out and right away started racing,” he said. “It’s what I knew, so I went back to what I knew. A little bit different, using my hands instead of my legs, but it’s basically the same.”

HELPING OUR HEROES

Handcycles look like recumbent, or reclining, bicycles. Instead of using legs and feet to pedal and power the bike, however, the rider uses his or her hands. The bikes have hand cranks and brakes, two rear wheels to coast and a front wheel used for steering.

“My first sporting event that I did in a wheelchair was the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Seattle in 1996 or 1997,” Gibbs said. “I went to about eight or so other wheelchair games and did triathlons competitively.”

Currently, he races through the Paralyzed Veterans of America organization and has been since 2013. PVA is a congressionally chartered service organization that helps veterans with a spinal cord injury or disorders such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and more. The national team competes at cycling and marathon events around the country, and PVA helps accommodate them by paying for up to 75% of travel and race costs.

PVA’s mission is to change the lives of veterans and to build brighter futures for them. According to the national website, it was founded 70 years ago by a band of service members who came home from World War II with serious spinal cord injuries. 

“The wheelchair games is a beginning step to get introduced to sports in a way that isn’t intimidating. It’s a good way to get your foot in the door, get out of the house, maintain your weight and all the benefits that sports brings you.”— Sean Gibbs

Among other things, PVA helps veterans secure benefits that have been denied, gets them back into life by means of adaptive sports, invests in the development of new treatments and cures for spinal cord injuries and advocates on behalf of veterans.

“When a veteran is first injured with a spinal cord injury, PVA is usually there right off the bat to help with putting in their benefits packages and helping to advocate with their benefits,” Gibbs said. “They help with grants for adaptive housing, driving, grants for adapting a car with hand controls and stuff like that. Before I even knew what PVA was, it was there to advocate for my benefits. They helped with adapting the house, adapting the car, and I went to school and got my bachelor’s degree.”

LOCAL SUPPORT

But although Gibbs races competitively, he is also the vice president for the Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Central Florida chapter. Racing competitively can be intense for those who are just starting out in racing and getting into adaptive sports, so the National Veterans Wheelchair Games are a good way to start out and get involved. With the games expected to be held in Orlando in 2018, PVA Central Florida has already started working on getting a team together to represent locally, compete and have fun.

“The wheelchair games is a beginning step to get introduced to sports in a way that isn’t intimidating,” Gibbs said. “It’s a good way to get your foot in the door, get out of the house, maintain your weight and all the benefits that sports brings you.”

This year, PVA Central Florida is looking to send some local Florida veterans to the 2016 games being held in Salt Lake City, Utah, toward the end of June for six days of athletic competition. More than 500 veterans from around the country will participate in any of 19 events, including a triathlon, wheelchair basketball, archery, air pistol, bowling, table tennis and softball. The local chapter is able to fund 75% of the costs but needs help in fundraising the rest. Such races and competitions aren’t cheap. Entry fees, accommodations, food, transportation and more cost up to $2,000 per athlete to participate.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

On June 13, the chapter is hosting its second annual Jerry Dugan Memorial Charity Golf Tournament at The Legacy Club at Alaqua Lakes to raise the remaining funds to send the veterans to Salt Lake City. 

“This year, with us trying to build a team, we’re using the golf tournament as a way to build funds for the wheelchair games,” Gibbs said. “Direct donations earmarked for wheelchair games will go toward our team.” 

Registration costs $125 per golfer, $100 per veteran or $400 per foursome and includes the cart and green fee, range balls, a buffet dinner, unlimited drinks and a special gift for each player. Additionally, the tournament boasts hole-in-one prizes, including a 2016 Mercedes Benz, and prizes for first-, second- and third-place teams.

Through it all — the accommodations, funding, medical support, training and more — each veteran, including Gibbs, remains grateful to both the community and family for supporting and believing in them.

“We all want to be thankful for our families for allowing us to do this sort of stuff,” Gibbs said. “It takes a lot of time to train.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].