Episode 42: Unlimited Possibilities

28 days ago

Kimberly talks with Paul Erway about overcoming not one but two major accidents, competing in wheelchair marathons in all 50 states, adaptive sports, and his work helping people regain their ability to drive with Superior Van & Mobility. Plus, Kimberly and Sam talk about all things Thanksgiving, especially the food. Spoiler alert, candied yams are gross.

To learn more about Paul, visit https://www.paulerway.com

Visit Superior Van & Mobility

Be sure to follow the Advocado Press Facebook page

Thanks to Chris Ankin for use of his song, “Change.”

The book "A Celebration of Family: Stories of Parents with Disabilities." is available from Amazon here.

Visit Moving Forward, the Advocado Press blog.

Send comments and questions to [email protected]

Demand and Disrupt is sponsored by the Advocado Press and the Center For Accessible Living.

You can find the transcript in the show notes below when they become available.

Transcript

Welcome to Demand and Disrupt the Disability Podcast.

Here we will learn to advocate for ourselves and each other.

This podcast is supported with funds from the Advocato Press based in Louisville, Kentucky.

Welcome to Demand and Disrupt a Disability Podcast.

I'm your host, Kimberly Parsley.

And I'm Sam Moore.

How in the world are you today, Kimberly?

I am doing great, Sam.

How about yourself?

Oh, loving every minute of being inside.

This is one of those days you need a heater as we speak.

You do, you do.

It is chilly, chilly here in Kentucky today.

Yeah, I don't think we've gotten any sleep yet, but you were telling me before we went on the air here that it was, it was sleeting a little bit in the Corvette city earlier today.

It was sleeting a little bit.

Yep.

Just a little, not much and probably not for long, but yeah.

And a little sleep freaked my dog out.

She thought it was a whole sky is falling situation.

So yeah, biscuit, you said she, she saw that felt a little bit of it and then turn around and I tailed it right back, right back inside.

She didn't want any part of that.

No part of that.

Oh goodness.

I don't blame her.

So glad we're inside where it's nice and cozy.

I am interviewing today.

We get to hear from his name is Mr. Paul Airway and he's fascinating man.

He's speaker.

He has competed in 50 wheelchair races, wheelchair marathons, 50, 50, one in all 50 states.

I think.

Yeah.

He wrote a book about it and he, he lives in Louisville and he also works with a superior van and mobility.

So he's going to talk to us some about that.

So fascinating stuff here today while we stay in where it's nice and warm, Sam coming to us from the North quail motel, correct Sam?

That's right.

Yes.

That is the, the exact destination that I'm blessed to be coming to you from.

We've got fresh coffee.

I forget.

Well, you, you, you do drink coffee because we've talked about that off the air.

You like your, you like your coffee.

Usually sugar it down a little bit.

No, I do.

I do.

I do like a coffee.

I like tea, basically hot chocolate, any hot drink.

I'll take it.

Anything with caffeine in it.

I do like that too.

Yeah, me too.

Caffeine is something I got to have as well.

Yes, exactly.

And you talk about, about your, your coffee on a blabbing in the bluegrass, your personal podcast that you do about all things Kentucky.

And I wanted to talk to you about this.

You sing the opening song, the theme song for your podcast.

I do.

Yes, that is, that is me and knock on wood.

I think everybody has survived my singing so far, but yes, I appreciate it.

Yes.

I just, I came up with the lyrics.

I think it was during, during one of the, the sleepless nights I had before the, the podcast got cranked up.

I'd had the idea for the show and I was just trying to ponder the lyrics.

So I was wide awake one night and I'm pretty sure that's, that's when they, they came to me, but yes, I sing it.

And my buddy, E.J Simmons on the keyboard, he, he provided the accompaniment, but yes, that's now.

So did you, you wrote the lyrics yourself?

I did.

Uh huh.

And so, I mean, you had to kind of compose it.

Is that, is compose it like music composing something that you do?

Yeah.

Well, you know, I used to play piano, so I guess music is sort of in my blood.

I sort of, I lost interest in piano a while back and sort of drifted away from it, broke my parents' hearts, I think.

But, but anyway, I still, I enjoy music and you know, I don't, I don't maybe write songs on a, on a regular basis, but occasionally it's, it's something that I feel inspired to do.

And, and I guess I did that particular time.

That's awesome.

And do you sing in like a choir or church choir or anything?

Uh, not a choir per se.

I do sing at, at my church, Three Plug for First United Methodist Church.

Yes, I do sing there on occasion.

And, uh, I'll do one or two songs here and there with the, with the accompaniment of, uh, you know, E.J, E.J Simmons who leads music in our early service, or sometimes I'll roll with Nicolai Peake who leads music in the traditional service.

So, uh, you know, shout out to E.J and, and Nicolai, but yes, I'll occasionally sing in, in church.

Well, and if any of you haven't checked out Sam's podcast, Blabbing in the Bluegrass, you should check that out and listen to him sing.

It is delightful.

And I believe this week you talked about Thanksgiving and this will be coming out the week of Thanksgiving.

So you talked about the most liked and the least liked Thanksgiving foods from Kentuckians, correct?

Right.

Yeah, this was a survey and it was, uh, well, this was a story that was done by Local 12, WKRC TV in Cincinnati a few years back.

And they, they drew from a, a Crestline survey.

So I, you know, that was just two years ago.

I assume that data still, you know, would be roughly the same if not exactly today.

But according to that survey, you know, Kentuckians ranked candied yams as the most popular Thanksgiving food in Kentucky.

And, uh, you, you disagree with that, don't you, Kimberly?

Yeah, I don't, I don't get it.

I don't, they may be eating something different from what I know.

No, I'm sorry.

The least favorite, um, or the least popular food, uh, at Thanksgiving among a majority of our fellow Kentuckians is cranberry sauce, which I don't crave myself.

Yeah, I'm good with, I'm good.

You can leave that.

Yeah, I'm not.

Yeah, I'm good without cranberry sauce.

A lot of people in my family just live for it, but, but I don't.

Now I do like, I do like sweet potato casserole, Kimberly.

Do you like sweet potato casserole?

No, like marshmallows and rice crispy, uh, rice in there.

No.

And is the sweet potato and a yam, are those two things?

I mean, they're, they're so they're, yeah, they're basically the same, but I guess, uh, you know, the sweet potato casserole, it's, it's a little different than the candy yams because this, the sweet potatoes are like almost mashed, if you will.

So it's sort of like a mashed sweet potato with white rice crispies and marshmallows in there and so forth.

But, but I do like that.

Although the candy yams, I, you know, I can sort of take them or leave them, even though apparently a lot of Kentuckians love them.

Apparently.

Yeah.

So what is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Oh gosh.

I love me some, some macaroni and cheese, especially my mama's.

She, uh, she makes the best and, um, you know, the, the dressing's okay.

I can, I like it in small doses, but not in, not in large amounts.

Uh, last year, my cousin who's developed a habit or a hobby of barbecuing in recent years, he actually, um, brought ribs to our Thanksgiving party last year, which I loved.

I got just picked out on the ribs.

I'll take ribs over turkey any day of the week.

Sorry to you.

Turkey lovers out there, you know, don't hold it against me, but I'd rather have ribs.

And, uh, I'm sure you're pretty partial to, uh, ribs as well.

Kimberly, have you ever had ribs on Thanksgiving?

I have not.

I'm, I'm not a huge meat eater.

Like I pretty much don't even really eat the turkey.

Like, uh, you're just like a dressing and veggie.

Yes.

Give me all the casseroles and the desserts.

That's how I roll with Thanksgiving.

There you go.

Now I know, you know, you probably wouldn't turn any dessert down Kimberly, but if you had to choose a favorite, which one would it be?

You know, I think, okay, it's going to be pecan pie, but I do like the chocolate chip pecan pie.

Oh gosh.

You are a lady after my own heart.

I love pecan pie myself.

So does now if you put chocolate chips in, is that what it does?

Does then it become a Derby pie?

I guess you can make an argument that it does.

I've, you know, I've never had a chocolate chips in a pecan pie per se, but you got to remedy that.

You don't think that, um, I don't think that I would like it any less.

I think, in fact, I think I would like it more with chocolate chips in it.

It's delicious.

That's, that's, that's probably what I love chocolate chips.

So you don't have to, um, any leftover pieces you have Kimberly of, of, uh, that chocolate chip pecan pie, just send them up here to the North quail motel.

Now our big, our big Thanksgiving thing, Thanksgiving is the day we get through to get to the day after Thanksgiving because to get to the Friday after.

Yeah.

We don't do black Friday.

We don't shop.

That's not we like Michael makes his special straight up sausage balls.

I said, we don't eat meat, but my daughter doesn't eat meat, but she loves the sausage balls, which is just like, you know, Bisquick cheddar cheese and sausage.

That's it.

But for some reason, because we only have them that one time a year, they're special.

And so we eat that and sometimes basic is good.

Bisquick cheese and sausage.

That's all you need.

And, uh, gosh.

Yeah.

So that's the day after Thanksgiving when, when Michael does the sausage balls.

That's right.

And we, uh, we just lay around and watch, uh, watch TV, watch Christmas movies on TV and just hang out together.

We don't leave the house.

So are you one of those that puts up your Christmas tree today after Thanksgiving?

No, my Christmas tree needs to be up before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is just pre Christmas.

So your Christmas tree is like, uh, it will be this, this, that is this weekend's chore.

Oh, that's this, that's on this weekends to do list.

See, we got a new Christmas tree because our other one, you know, they get old.

We don't, we just use an artificial tree.

And so our plan is to put up the Christmas tree and see how destructive biscuit is going to be, but see how your dog reacts to it before we decorate it.

I understand.

That's a good, that's smart actually.

So you just put the tree up, let it sit for a day or two and then kind of get a feel for biscuit.

Yeah.

And then we'll decorate it based on his actions.

Then you can, you know, decorate your tree and in the, uh, in the spots that you choose.

Right.

What about you up there in the North whale motel?

Is that, is it all decorated yet?

No, it'll probably be sometime the weekend of Thanksgiving.

And, and we switched to an artificial tree, um, not long ago ourselves and I can appreciate how easy it is.

Although I do miss the, um, you know, that, that strong pine scent that you get from a real tree.

I hear you, but, um, but yes, we, you know, before, uh, that Monday after Thanksgiving between Thanksgiving Thursday and the following Mondays, when, when ours will probably come up and, and be decorated.

And luckily for me, the, the pine scented candles are, uh, getting better and better each year.

It seems like, so yeah, they're becoming more of an acceptable substitute.

There you go.

I can at least get my pine smell that way.

That sounds great.

Yeah.

That's a, that's a good idea.

So all you listeners out there, if you want to tell us about your own Thanksgiving or black Friday traditions, what you do, what food you like, what food you don't like, go ahead and get on Facebook and follow the Advocato press Facebook page.

And that's Advocato A-D-V-O-C-A-D-O press.

So just give that a search and follow along and get in the comments and argue with people about yams.

Yeah.

And who knows, we might pick out a few comments for honorable mention on the show next time.

Oh, that'd be great.

Yep.

That'd be, that would be great.

So you might, you folks might get the big shout out.

Yeah.

Unless you pick yams and then I'm sorry.

You pick candy yams, then you know, we'll still love you, but we just might not mention your comment on the show.

There you go.

That's what we'll do.

Well, Sam, always great talking with you.

And now we are going to hear my interview with Paul Airway.

Can't wait.

Let's hear it, Paul.

And I am fortunate to be joined today by Paul Airway.

Paul is the, he's with Superior Van, which he's going to tell us more about and long resume.

I know you came to my attention as someone who had done 50 wheelchair marathons in 50 weeks.

And then I talked to you and you were like, well, no, it was actually a team and it was actually 39 and I'm like 39 marathons that there's no way that's not going to be impressive no matter how big the number is.

So welcome Paul Airway to demand and disrupt.

Great.

Thank you so much, Kimberly.

I appreciate it.

So, so tell me about the marathons.

Tell me how that came about and, uh, just tell it, tell our listeners about yourself.

You're very busy guy.

Yes.

I, uh, where I grew up in Pennsylvania and it was kind of backwards, wasn't possible to have bicycles because of the dirt roads and stuff.

So my father brought us up ponies and, uh, he kind of knew that life would be tough and you have to get back on your horse and life is going to throw you and he'd be there to get back on my pony at four years old.

And I started riding that pony, uh, elk and his name was Ralph Solomon Trumburger the third.

Can you imagine?

No wonder.

I didn't know if I was being bucked off or falling off of an experience, but, uh, my father's there to pick us back up and get back on.

And he was so right as to ride those, uh, Appalachian mountains, uh, the fall with the plethora of leaves or the winter time with all the snow, uh, and how quiet it was, it was just amazing rides.

But, uh, I started getting bigger horses, you know, bigger challenges and showing horses 11, training my own horses 16, went to college for horses.

I think I'm going to ride horses the rest of my life.

Right.

But I didn't do a traditional college.

I apprenticed with Terry Thompson, one of the top training trainers in the nation.

And he said, Paul, you're doing a great job.

When you graduate, I want you to stay on and go on the national show circuit with us.

So you managed to count down the days, the hours to graduation, but the last weekend of college, you know, you got to go celebrate with your fellow classmates.

So I was drinking, we were partying double date kind of thing.

So I let my best friend drive because he doesn't drink.

We took that precaution, but 1980, there was no seatbelt law.

There was no seat belts in the back seat.

And so I'm sleeping back there with my girlfriend and we just came to a Y on the road, road construction, cinders on the road, and just fell into that ditch.

In that instant, my horses were taken away forever because I broke T4 through six were shattered.

So now I'm a paraplegic.

And so now I ride a chrome pony every day.

Wow.

And how old were you when that happened?

I was 21.

21.

Goodness, goodness.

So obviously you had learned to get back up.

You learned resilience.

So tell me how that went.

Well, as you know, my father was right.

Life is going to throw you and you have to get back on.

And so I went back to that college to get the books because I sure didn't worry about books before I was going to ride horses.

And in the next room of this college was this gentleman was Spina Bifida.

He was a little guy.

You know, I was six, three at a small town.

So I did, I was the tallest one in the school.

So I did football, basketball and track.

And this little guys were going to lunch.

He said, see that telephone pole?

I'll race you to it.

Mark, this little guy wants to challenge me.

Yeah, I'll race you.

Well, he smoked me.

Oh my gosh.

I was so embarrassed.

So right then, I thought if I'm going to use this wheelchair, I'm going to push as fast as I can.

I want to beat Mark.

And that started the acceptance of the wheelchair.

That started my racing, the love of trying to push his chair faster.

And so as I got improved on the racing chairs and everything, I started doing better and just found out about racing that way and competing and track.

So it was great times back then.

Awesome.

So how did the idea for doing 50 marathons come about?

Yeah.

So start racing regionals, doing better, make it into nationals.

They said, maybe you can make the Paralympic team.

Ah, wouldn't it be great?

So I started training harder, doing better nationals.

And I made the developmental team 10 years later in 1990.

And I got to go to Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Olympic training grounds for two weeks for training.

I made the developmental team that I got to go to the world championships and ace in Holland for two weeks.

I'm competing at the world level of the world championships.

I got smoked over there.

Oh my gosh.

So I had two years to get ready for the Paralympic team to make that.

So I trained hard.

I got an ex Penn State football player to push me in the weight room and stuff.

And then I go to Salt Lake City, Utah in 92.

And this little guy shows up.

He's only 15 years old.

Now he didn't smoke me, but he beat me by those split seconds that he went to the Paralympics and I did not.

So have you ever lost a dream, that chance, that possibility, something you worked hard for?

Sure.

It hurts.

Yeah.

So kind of put a damper in things.

And so my mentor calls me up.

He says, listen, you've never done the Boston marathon.

It's like, I'm going from track racing to doing 26 miles.

He says, just do it for the experience because it's the greatest race in the U S. And so I start training a little bit for distance and I qualified because again, I was fast enough to do that.

I'm not getting win Boston.

I didn't win the Paralympics or I didn't even get a chance to go there or anything.

So I'm not that good, but I was good enough to get into the marathon.

So I do Boston.

Out of the 26 miles, I get 25 done and all of a sudden I get a flat tire.

And I said, I don't care.

I'm going crank it out with a flat.

And I called my mentor up and I said, 26, I did the 26 miles in two hours and 16 minutes, which was the record back then.

And he says, Paul, that's great.

Now you got to do the greatest marathon in the world for wheelchairs, which is a weed in Japan because there are no runners like Boston.

It's strictly wheelchairs.

And so that's why I was training for Weeda Japan.

And I ended up training on a Sunday afternoon was 94 degrees because, Hey, maybe it'll be hot in a Weeda.

And as I'm thinking, I'm going to go quick little 10 K three miles out, three miles back.

And when I say out, there's a pretty good downhill.

I'm getting a little cooled off with a cool breeze and stuff, but a pickup rounds the bend at the bottom.

And he's coming up the hill as I'm going down.

I'm on my side of the road, but I either jerked it too quickly or I hit a pothole that three times I was on two wheels before I slam into his driver's door.

Thank goodness I had a helmet on.

So were you, were you injured?

T C six spinal process broken clavicle scapula out the end, two ribs puncture lung laying on the hot asphalt was 94 degrees out.

How hot is that road?

So after all life functions stopped, I got a helicopter ride to university of Kentucky medical center.

Obviously I made it, but trying to recuperate from that.

It's like, I still had a Weeda Japan.

I still had that goal, something to reach for.

And sometimes that's what you need.

That's what you need to get back up and going.

Because my father was right.

When you can get back on your horse, the rides that you can still take are going to be truly amazing.

And so I'd worked hard to get to Weeda Japan.

And I did that in 2010.

And I'm rooming with a guy from Tunis on Arizona.

I said, okay, we tried making the Paralympic team, didn't do it, but we did Boston marathon.

We did the greatest marathon of the world for wheelchair and a Weeda.

What's next?

And he says, well, marathon runners in the United States tried to do a marathon in every state.

So that's 50 states.

I'm thinking, hmm, 50 states, 52 weeks in a year.

What if we do it quickly?

Would that be a challenge?

What do you think Kimberly?

50 marathons, 50 states in 50 weeks.

Like I said, just, just one marathon sounds exhausting to me.

So this would be impressive no matter how long it took.

So it took a little bit to organize.

We did get another guy to join us.

And so the three of us started out trying to do those and my family's totally against it.

So as a team, because again, the third race was Houston, Texas.

Oh, I'm sorry, the second race was Houston, Texas.

And in that marathon, I got 11 miles and it was raining the whole time.

And I got two flats and I couldn't complete that marathon.

So that's a marathon I didn't complete, but I was there.

I tried, you know, but so anyways, that's kind of why we were doing it as a team.

And, but also I'm doing this while working full-time.

So I'm putting in full-time work with superior van mobility and then trying to do the marathon.

So it puts a trouble, personal life, stresses on everything because you have to prioritize.

But it was great.

There was so many rides within that challenge and because I worked full-time, that's why I only got 39 in.

And I did some of the marathons before that.

And I did some afterwards to get up to my 50.

And we didn't complete in 50 weeks because Montana still had, we call the race director and Montana says, I'm the race director.

I don't allow wheelchairs in my marathon.

Are you kidding this day and age?

In 2013, they don't allow wheelchairs.

And so we were thinking about getting some lawyers to pursue the ADA and getting us in there because we looked at the course and everything, it seemed fine.

And so we said, no, let's not make waves.

Let's just go on and we'll pick it up later.

So it took us four times to get Montana, but it was after the 50 weeks.

So persistence challenges, and we had challenges within the challenges, Kimberly.

Yeah.

Now you wrote a book about your experiences with this, right?

Yeah, because also we tried to help the community and everything.

So as we went into each city, we'd also spoke at a rehab facility or hospital to try to thank the therapists for what they do for us.

That's what helped us pick back up and get going again.

Both my accidents, the therapists were there to help us.

And so we were trying to give them some encouragement that they're doing some great things, that they're helping people with disability and we can still do some great things.

We can still get back on that horse.

We can still have amazing rides.

And the very first one said, you're going to have some great stories.

You need to write a book because from that presentation, there's three people that were patients there that got encouraged to do adaptive sports.

Oh, wow.

Great.

That is great.

And so from that, we started to write a little stories about each race, but then we did a behind the scenes.

So each chapter, there's a behind the scenes of things that went on.

Wow.

That's wonderful.

And tell me, what's the name of the book?

50 Abilities Unlimited Possibilities.

Awesome.

That's an awesome title.

You know, the physical therapists and things, they are so, so important, aren't they?

I'm glad you did.

I'm glad you mentioned that.

So shout out to all the therapists and things out there.

They do great work, don't they?

Oh, sure do.

Because, you know, the very first time was so much mental of going from working so hard of riding horses and everything I did for horses.

Now all of a sudden the horses are taken away.

That's such a mental challenge.

But the second accident, it hurt so bad with the burns and stuff, all the skin grafts.

So just the therapist being there to work with me to get me through that was more the physical part than the mental.

Because I know I made it the first time, I can make it the second time.

And I still had that goal to reach for.

And it was a truly amazing ride.

Can you imagine going to a foreign country like Ace in Holland and now I'm in the weed of Japan.

And so where would I be if I gave up?

If I would have quit the first time and sat home and just worked the remote or, you know, the second time saying that was enough, but look at what I was able to do and the people I met, the situations that we had along that way.

How long was your recovery from that second accident?

The second accident was 2006, but it wasn't until 2010 I got to Ouija.

So it's four years.

And it's a little tougher when you're a little older.

Yes, indeed.

But also because of the difference of the skin grafts, you had to be careful with them.

It's very thin skin.

But it was tough.

So did you end up from that second accident with any further disabilities after that?

Or were you able to recover to your prior abilities?

More of a thank goodness for doctors and physical therapists and stuff, because with the burns I'd have to go to more of a burn clinic.

And I would see the people with burned hands and burned faces and couldn't imagine what they went through because mine was my back.

But when I see somebody with a burned face, I just, so it's appreciation of not just my own disability of being a spinal cord, but the appreciation of therapists and doctors work with burn victims and because that's tough as well.

So also for other people like yourself that are blind, I just have that appreciation for all disabilities now.

Yeah.

That is interesting.

I know I have an appreciation also for other people's disabilities because you learn so much, don't you, from other people and how they overcome and even little hacks and ways that they overcome their challenges.

And I am an employee at the Center for Accessible Living.

And here in Bowling Green, one of the calls that we get a lot is from people who have new spinal cord injuries.

And so they have become wheelchair users and they want information about wheelchair accessible van.

And now in your spare time, I guess, when you're not marathoning, here in Kentucky, you're kind of the face of superior van mobility.

So tell me some about that.

Well, with my first accident, the first week, talking to the therapist, I said, can I still drive and can I still have, you know, what 21 year old guys want to have?

Where women would ask, can I still drive and can I still have children where men are kind of a little different there.

But again, that importance to be able to go where you want to go, when you want to go, to be able to go driving again was so important for somebody.

So I can truly understand why you're getting calls about that.

But it is so blessed that I was able to work for a company that did the vehicle modifications because again, I could show them off and show how they work and use stuff because I use a wheelchair.

And it was such a blessing for me to get into the industry.

And let me tell you a little story about that.

When I got in the industry of adapting vehicles for a person with a disability, I met this gentleman, Ralph Braun, of BraunAbility, and he had a disability of muscular dystrophy, not Deshane's, but one of the other muscular dystrophies.

So he saw his need of having a proper wheelchair, proper power chair and stuff.

So he built one of the first accessible tri-wheelers.

And he said, if this helps me, it's going to help other people.

And I saw how small the company was in 84 and what he was doing.

And he built one of the first accessible wheelchair vehicles to carry a scooter.

And then in 2002, sitting by the nearly empty parking lot of UofL football stadium, there's a loud rush of air.

And I look up at this hot air balloon, red, orange, and yellow, and it lands 50 feet away.

And as the basket touches the ground, part of it unfolds and becomes a ramp.

And this young girl comes out in a power chair with a smile so big, she could have ate a banana sideways.

And sitting beside me is Ralph Braun of BraunAbility.

And he says, Paul, to make it in this industry, the more people you can help, the more you're going to be blessed.

And he was so right, because I saw his company in 84, and here it is 2002, that he has helped so many people nationally, but internationally, that he could afford the only wheelchair accessible hot air balloon in the United States.

And here he is bringing it to Louisville, Kentucky to give free rides to person.

Can you imagine?

That's awesome.

Do you ever think you get a free ride in a hot air balloon?

So again, that's what I like to do is with Superior Van Mobility, we're a family-owned business, largest one in the country.

We have 15 locations in eight states.

But it's great working here, because I get to help people every day to learn about vehicle modifications and what might be adapted best for them.

And then we have mobility consultants that will really specialize in working close to that person.

They can bring a vehicle to the person's home.

We can bring a vehicle to their rehab or hospital or that to meet with them to find what's going to be best for their needs, find what's going to be affordable, because again, that's the big thing.

As you know, health insurance doesn't pay for anything with vehicle modifications.

So you do have the voc rehab, you do have the VA, you have workman's comp, but the rest we kind of need to really work with.

And so that's where our mobility consultants specialize in helping people get the right vehicle, the right price as well, Kimberly.

So you do work with people to try to help, do you all provide financing or help to find financing?

We do have a financial specialist here that works with different banks to work with that.

But we can direct them to the right places and stuff to look at grants.

Actually, even on our website, under resources, we have a link that connect people to different grants and everything.

Did you know that there is funding for injured jockeys?

So we've done three vans for jockeys that were injured while they're riding horses.

And then there's something for coal miners, because coal miners get injured as well.

And then there's a grant for coal miners.

So again, this website, because everybody has a little different needs, different situations and stuff.

And so they can go to that and find some or call one of our mobility consultants to find somebody that'll help them, direct them in the right places and stuff.

So we're very glad to help Kimberly.

People's needs are very individual in that regard, aren't they?

Oh, every person's disability is different because look how many levels of spinal cord there are.

As far as visual, did you know that there's a bioptic driving program for a person with, that is blind, but because of this, they can partially see that we can help them out that way.

Really?

Yeah.

And then there's the cerebral palsy, how many different levels of cerebral palsy are there?

And then the progressive disease like MS and ALS and stuff that progressed a little bit, so their disability changes.

But look how many wheelchairs are out there, scooters, power chairs, everybody's choice of what they use.

And then the vehicles, look how many different vehicles are out there, right?

So I will put a link to the website in the show notes, but do you know the URL for the website?

Do you want to tell everyone now?

Yeah, it is superiorvan.com.

Awesome.

That's easy.

Yep.

People can remember that.

That's wonderful.

So tell me, your story is, you have done a lot.

You really have.

Do you rest?

Do you ever just take a day and chill and rest?

I'm afraid that day has come.

Being 66 here in October and after 45 years of using a manual wheelchair, all the racing, all the training that went into those years, the marathons and stuff, I'm afraid to say is last October, I gave all of my racing equipment to the new junior team in Louisville.

And there was a gentleman there.

He's 16 years old and six foot.

So he fit my chair perfectly.

And he was able to go to high school nationals to compete in my racing chair.

So it's great to help that next generation.

And so it's great to see.

And so yes, I've kind of rested from the racing now because my shoulders, arthritis and rotators and stuff, but there's a great team in Bowling Green.

Yeah.

Really?

Uh huh.

Yeah.

Cameron Levies of Parks and Rec is really doing a lot with adaptive sports in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

So you need to get to people get connected with him and maybe get him on your podcast.

Absolutely.

We have had one other wheelchair racer, Matt Davis is here in Bowling Green and we've had him on before, but yeah.

So I guess you would say adaptive sport has been very important for you both physically and mentally, emotionally.

Yeah.

Because you look at children and that's why the Louisville team got started.

And I think that's why BJ has gotten started down there with adaptive sports because as a child with a disability, he might be the only one in the school or there's just a couple in the school.

But so the gym teacher is working with them playing basketball and stuff, but they have the child with a disability set and keep score, uh, you know, just not really participating.

So with the adaptive sports, now they get to participate.

So the Louisville team got 10 basketball chairs so they can have children with disabilities in their chairs playing, but again, they can get some other people playing like in the gym class.

So they have actually a basketball game, everybody using wheelchairs to play.

So you said they avail part of that school, part of that organization.

So it's great to really see them get started that way.

So they're not just sitting on the sidelines and keeping score.

They're, they're actually participating in the other kids enjoyed that as well.

That is amazing.

That really is.

Wow.

And it's just so important to get back to realize you can compete.

You can enjoy using the adaptive equipment because again, there are others throughout the country using it.

So I've competed against Matt Davis in the past.

Yeah.

And Bowling Green has a good 10 K race in October.

Right.

That was a fun one to do.

That's for sure.

Yep.

The 10 K classic here.

It's a big deal probably coming up very soon.

Um, well, Mr. Arway, it has been wonderful to talk to you.

So before I let you go, just tell me, what would you say to someone who maybe has just experienced that kind of accident and life is different now?

What would you, what would you say to that person?

Yeah.

Whether it is life or a horse that throws you go get back on the rides you can still take are truly amazing.

Awesome.

That's wonderful.

Thank you for joining us.

I appreciate it.

Everyone Paul Urway, superior van.com.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you, Kimberly.

Thanks for having me on.

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Demand and Disrupt is a publication of the Advocato Press with generous support from the Center for Accessible Living located in Louisville, Kentucky.

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