At the age of three, I didn’t pay much attention to the world around, other than what I could play with. Everything changed though when my family was in a car accident one February morning. Now, as a C2/3 vent dependent quadriplegic, the world was a completely different place.

In 1985 it was unimaginable for a child with my injury to return home and live in mainstream society. My parents knew living in a care facility wasn’t in God’s plans for my life, so they did what the doctors never thought would work and brought me home.

Getting used to having a nurse with me 24 hours a day and using a mouth stick to play didn’t take me very long. When I started preschool about a year later, I was ready to learn just like my classmates.

School continued just like every other boy, only with a few unique tools. In first grade, a substitute teacher had us rolling dice as part of the lesson. She quietly came to me and said she was sorry that I couldn’t participate. I quickly corrected her by showing that by pushing down on one end of the die, it rolled very well if my assistant caught it.

One area in school I didn’t like was physical education (PE). When my classmates ran around the gym, I could easily follow by driving my power chair with them. With other activities though, like baseball, basketball, I had to sit on the sidelines. I was made a referee or base manager, but not directly involved with the rest of the class.

In the summer of 1993 my parents, a caregiver, and I took a long drive from our home in Iowa clear out to Ohio to attend CHAMP Camp. This was a camp for kids just like me; everyone had either a vent or something they used at night to help them breathe. Some were ambulatory, while others used a wheelchair to get around. I had been to a similar camp a few years earlier in Miami, Florida, but this one was different. One big part was that after my parents dropped me off, they were gone for the week!

Two other campers were quadriplegics and we became friends within minutes of arrival. One of them though, didn’t live at home; he lived in a hospital in Indianapolis, Indianapolis. The people that started the camp, Dave Carter and Nancy McCurdy, worked at the hospital and thought kids like us should have a camp just like every other child.

A great part about CHAMP Camp is that everyone participates in every activity. I had time to watch my friends, but when my turn came I did the activity! I got to go fishing with a pole I could operate with my chin, swimming in the pool by laying on a floating mattress, riding a horse and a lot more.

The best part was the last night we were there.

All week, pranks had been going back and forth between the boy’s and girl’s cabins. My friends and I helped to instigate a few them, with willing counselors to help in our schemes. On the last night, after closing ceremonies, was a squirt gun fight between the two cabins. I had more fun in a few short minutes than all the things I had ever done outside of camp. I was hooked from that time on.

Camp was held at Recreation Unlimited and the following years saw more activities added to the grounds. I couldn’t wait to go back and see my friends and have a week of fun. New activities included climbing a 25 foot tree and later on a 50 foot tower. A ventilator with 40-70 feet of tubes was stationed on the ground and kids on vents were hoisted up by a system of pulleys in a special seat. A counselor went along with me, an ambu bag, and camera, and up I went. It was great seeing the bird’s eye view of everything around.