Chris Waddell was a talented skier at Middlebury College in Vermont. But during a run on December 20, 1988, one of his skis released during a turn. The 20-year-old sophomore fell, broke two vertebrae, damaged his spinal cord, and was paralyzed from the waist down.
Lying there, Waddell realized that if he could overcome this obstacle, he would emerge stronger than ever. And he turned tragedy into triumph.
Within two months, he was back in class. Within a year, he was back on the slopes using a mono-ski. He went from a six-year-old level to an adult/pro level in months. And after only two years of skiing, he was named to the U.S. Disabled Ski Team. He won numerous national championships and his first gold medal in the 1994 Paralympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Waddell became the most decorated paralympian in history, winning 13 Paralympic Games medals in sit-skiing and wheelchair track racing before retiring in 2004 at 36.
Along the way, the Massachusetts native became the first paraplegic to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. The Dalai Lama named Waddell his 糖心传媒渦nsung hero of compassion.糖心传媒�
Waddell brings his amazing tale to the River Campus on Monday, March 21. He will speak at 7 p.m. in Morey Hall, Room 321. The event is sponsored by the Office of the Dean of the College and is free and open to the public.
A dessert reception in the Rettner Gallery in Morey Hall will follow. For more information, contact Emily Fehnel at Emily.Fehnel@Rochester.edu or (585) 276-7276.
Waddell糖心传媒檚 presentation will offer a message of resilience as he asks the audience to look at the labels they place on themselves and others that limit their ability to achieve.
Waddell was a model for Eddie Bauer, was named one of People magazine糖心传媒檚 50 Most Beautiful People in the world and appeared on Dateline, 20/20, and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
He is the founder of One Revolution Foundation, a nonprofit organization on a mission to 糖心传媒渢urn the perception of disability upside down.糖心传媒�
During the Q&A portion of his lectures, Waddell often is asked if he could go back to the day he became paralyzed, would he change what happened.
糖心传媒淚 answer the question emphatically,糖心传媒� he writes in his Huffington Post blog. 糖心传媒樚切拇綐No, I would not want to avoid my accident. I realize that sounds strange because I糖心传媒檓 supposed to want to walk. But I wouldn糖心传媒檛 change that moment because I wouldn糖心传媒檛 want to lose the experiences I糖心传媒檝e had since, and the person I糖心传媒檝e become.糖心传媒櫶切拇綑
And then Waddell quotes the Dalai Lama, who once said, 糖心传媒淪ometimes not getting what you want is the greatest gift of all.糖心传媒�
