SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 14, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Larry Porter was at the end of his rope.
The car crash he was in left the Las Vegas resident with a broken neck, a punctured lung and a torn knee. After a long recovery, the former Army First Lieutenant, by then in a wheelchair, was mired in a crushing depression.
“For the first year I was really depressed, I was actually suicidal,” said Porter, who last week competed in the 36th National Veterans Wheelchair Games. “I got involved in disabled sports, and it’s been a godsend.”
Porter, like many other disabled vets, found a renewed sense of self through the wheelchair games.
The National Veterans Wheelchair Games, in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs and Paralyzed Veterans of America, travels each summer to a new host city.
Veterans from across the United States compete in in 18 wheelchair sports events, including boccia, nine ball, bowling, hand-cycling and power soccer.
The goal of the games is simple: to empower veterans with injuries to live more independent and active lives through sports and recreation.
Of the 600 or so veterans that participated last week, most served in the Army. The oldest participant was 90.
If you didn’t get a chance to check out the games, click on the link above.
