Episode 68: A Wheelchair Athletic Warrior

You're listening to Demand and Disrupt, the podcast for information about accessibility, advocacy and all things disability.

Welcome to Demand and Disrupt, a disability podcast. I'm your host, Kimberly Parsley.

And I'm your co host, Sam Moore. I am ready. I've got my steaming hot cup of coffee directly to my left and it is definitely helping to keep me warm on this nice cold day. Now, Kimberly, tell us what it is that you're drinking in celebration of the holiday season.

Oh, I have something special. It is a republic of tea and it is the, I believe it's called Sip and Be Mary tea blend. It's kind of tea. It's a little. It's got some nut, you know, like a, like a kind of a hazelnut notes in there.

With a little toffee. Kind of.

Not bad.

Not bad at all.

Yeah. Way fancier than my black coffee over here. But, you know, that's. That's how we came cancel out.

You can't beat a black coffee. You cannot beat it.

You know, it's consistent. You know what you're gonna get, but.

Exactly.

I'm trying to get my hands on some tea.

So you've got our interview this week, Sam, who are we going to be talking to?

We are going to be hearing from the main man himself, David Hartsack. He is a wheelchair athlete from Lexington. He retired a few years back from a long career in the realm of it, but his athletic pursuits range from wheelchair tennis to wheelchair basketball to even road racing. He doesn't compete a whole lot now, but he still continues to coach and attempt to organize teams. In fact, something particularly impressive about David, Kimberly, you know, he just this past July, he competed in his 41st consecutive Bluegrass 10K in Lexington. Wow.

41. That is impressive.

That is impressive. And that's an annual event, the Bluegrass 10K. It's held every 4th of July in Lexington. In fact, he.

Last year he won his age division and I believe he said he did or came. Actually, I think he got third this year, if I remember right. Some of those details are a little blurry, but I tell you, he definitely will impress you with all that he's dabbled in and all of his achievements. He speaks of Cardinal Hill a lot too. And just for the record, he.

Spent some time there. The dorms that he stayed in as a student at UK were a part of Cardinal Hill because they housed students at UK with disabilities at the time. They don't anymore, I'm pretty positive, but at the time they did. Cardinal Hill is a rehab hospital that is a part of UK health care and it's actually on UK's campus, but he mentions that quite a bit. So just so you folks know, when he mentions Cardinal Hill, that's what he's referencing.

Oh, okay. So Cardinal Hill is kind of like, sort of like Frazier, I guess, is in Louisville.

Yeah, and, and he mentions that too. And then Perkins, like you alluded to before we went on the air here. Yeah, yeah, that facility. So. So I think it's pretty similar to that.

Okay, okay, good. Thank you for clarifying that then. Yeah, I, you know, those of us down in this part of the state, ever in western Kentucky, we, I, I never heard of Cardinal Hill before. So.

Yeah, if you're outside of Lenten, it's not a given that you, that you will have heard of it before. So. So, you know, I do what I can.

Right.

Now, the important question, since we're December, I know it's what do you want for Christmas, Sam?

Well, you know, mom keeps asking me and I always tell her, peace, hope, happiness. And she goes, well, I can't wrap those, but that's awesome.

That's awesome.

Anyway, yeah, I'll probably, you know, I've still got to work on mine. You know, it usually includes hot sauce. You know, Santa Claus generally knows that when he gives me a bottle of Maker's Mark, I'm gonna put it to good use.

Oh, okay.

Wow.

Alrighty. That sounds good.

So I, I don't usually drink it straight, but I, you know, I usually mix it with a little diet of some sort. But, but you know, I always take full advantage and that, that always comes in handy. And you know, BDubs gift cards. Anybody wants to throw BDubs gift cards my way. I definitely love my buffalo wild wings.

Yeah, yeah. They're a popular thing around here too.

They are, yeah. And UK basketball tickets, even though UK is not playing very well right now.

I haven't, I haven't been to Rupp arena to a game in quite a while. So, you know, I could definitely.

So if you ask Santa for these things, is that what you. Or is that what Santa, AKA Mom Moore, Mama More, I guess. Is that what she usually gets you?

Yeah. Or anybody else that wants to play Santa Claus, you know, be my guest.

But anyway, yeah, that list is still in progress. I'm sort of about like, I'll be about like your kids that try to like throw in a bunch of last minute requests on December 23rd.

That is what my kids. Yeah, that's what they do.

And you ask them right now. You're like, what do y' all want for Christmas? I go, I don't know.

Nope. I don't know. I don't know. They say, I don't know.

And.

And I guess my mom has been after them so much that my daughter finally did send my mom a list. And I said, say or she'll steal all the good things off that list and I won't have anything to get you. And she just said, oh, sorry. And I'm like, I think she did that on purpose.

That might have been intentional.

It could have been. She is my child, after all, so you never know.

But. But to the important stuff, you know, for your Santa Claus or anybody that wants to play your Santa Claus, what. What might be on your Christmas list?

Well, I can put you on the spot or anything.

Oh, I. I've always. I've got a running list.

Well, this is how, you know, I'm old is because I've basically asked for things to make me cozy, like warm socks, a new, you know, warm hat, things like that.

So you're planning ahead for this winter?

Yeah. Yeah. So that's how I look at it. I was like, I am an old person. It is official. But then also. And I know I got this. Michael bought it last night. Is a new keyboard.

Keyboard. A keyboard, like for typing, or I know it's typing. At least I assume. I go say, I assumed it wasn't a musical keyboard.

No. But we do have one of those here.

But no, that kind of keyboard.

Yeah. Since I have just. Since I just have the use of one hand to type with, I have always in the past used a laptop keyboard.

Right.

And now I find that I really like for.

Well, I like a numpad. Like a number pad.

Sure.

Because you can screen readers, you know, can you just set it to do one thing?

Yeah, I can see that.

Also more space so that I can do things like get to the arrow key quicker. So I like there to be a healthy amount of real estate that separates, like, the arrow keys from the rest of the keyboard.

I can see that. Yeah. And a regular laptop keyboard, I could see where that would be a bit of a hassle with just one hand.

With just one hand that you don't have real good use of anyway. You know, I mean, I still have not great sensitivity there. It's in that one hand. Yeah, it's just, you know, there's. I don't want to have to go if I'm looking for the F6 key key. I don't want to have to go all the Way to the left. And count.

And count.

Yeah, that's, you know, so we went.

Yeah, counting can be a hassle.

I never was good at math.

Was great at it myself.

We went to Best Buy last night and Michael had me look at the keyboards because I really do need to get hand.

So you could sort of take several.

Of them for a test drop. Yeah, so he, he picked me one out last night, which, you know, that's, that's the way to do it and just, he'll wrap it up and put it under the tree. So. Yeah, so.

Oh, yeah. So you know that's coming and I do. So that's one thing. You know, it's not a bad thing to have a general idea of or at least a sneak preview of what Santa's going to bring you.

You know, I saw a, I don't know, a post, a YouTube or something. Somebody was talking about gifts for people who are disabled. And you know my keyboard, that's kind of a. Because of my disability thing.

Well, the keyboard sort of caters to your. The keyboard caters to your needs.

It. It does. So I wonder, do you have any gifts that you ask for or that you buy for people who are disabled that are very disability specific?

Gosh, you know, I don't think I've ever shopped for anybody disability specific. You know, I'm. I'm sure somewhere along the line I've, I've probably asked for Christmas things. Oh, that reminds me, when I was in, like first or second grade, remember how they used to have those old light talk speech boxes that, that connected to your computer? Now, of course, we have Jaws and different screen readers.

Right. It was like an external synthesizer.

Yeah, it was external. But you hooked it into your computer. When I was like in second grade, I asked for one of those for Christmas. And my, my braille teacher's husband owned a computer shop, Mark Grant. And he came, you know, unbeknownst to me, I was in bed. But he and my braille teacher apparently came over late in the night that. On Christmas Eve night, and Mark installed the thing. And they were real quiet, I guess, because I never heard a word out of them. Maybe it, maybe my air machine or whatever blocked them out. But that night they apparently got some nice bonding time. Mark Grant set up the light talk speech box. And so when I got up the next morning, I, you know, I went over there and started typing and lo and behold.

Was, Was speaking to me. So I guess that's the only real disability specific thing that I ever asked for because My computer at school had a light talk speech box that went with it, and I was like, gosh, it'd be great for me to have this at home. And that year, Christmas morning, I woke up with it, so that was great.

Awesome. So they were some real Santa Claus people there, huh?

Those were some real Santa Claus people I had. Santa Claus was a joint effort that year for sure.

Yeah. Yeah.

Anyway. Yeah, that. That really stands out to me. But I tell you what, one very important, uber important item that we have to get to here. Kimberly, we need another story from the Biscuit Chronicles.

Oh, Biscuit. Okay, so I think that I am sort of a genius.

I think you're more than sort of a genius. Don't sell yourself short.

Bless your heart, Sam. So I don't know if you all remember last year. Biscuit was much younger. Biscuit is no wiser.

A little older, but no wiser.

Right. Anyone who's joined the podcast recently as a disruptor. I'm talking about my dog, Biscuit.

Yes.

She's almost two. So she's not a puppy. She should know better.

But she's 2 is like 14 in dog years, I think.

Yes. She ought to be behaving better. She's not.

Yeah, she.

Well, she eats ornaments off the tree.

So that's a pain in the rear end.

Yes, well, she doesn't eat them anymore. She just destroys them. I mean, she gets them and she destroys them.

Oh, okay. Destroy some other ways besides eating.

Yeah, well, she doesn't eat them. She chews them up and litters the pieces of them through the house and stuff. She makes a big mess. And, you know, I like my ornaments. They're my ornaments.

Yeah, most of us do.

Well, on the third try, the third ornament this year.

I was like, you know what?

She got this old, like, knitted Christmas stocking. A small1, like 3 inches tall or something.

You know, a small knitted stocking.

Knitted stocking. And she had made off with that. Well, we caught her. I say we. It was not me. I had nothing to do with catching it.

Catching her.

Michael caught her, got it out of her mouth, and I was like, okay, you know what? Give me that stocking. Okay, so that's the stocking. That's the one that you want to go after. So. Okay, fine.

So Michael stopped her just in the nick.

Right, Right. So I put. Well, I sprayed it with this stuff that is supposed to be a deterrent. Like, it smells or tastes so bad or something that dogs are supposed to stay away from it.

Oh, yeah.

Good call. Yeah, right. If it worked, it would have been so smart. But no, it doesn't work. It. Biscuit has acquired a taste for it, I guess.

Oh, but.

So I sprayed the stocking with the stuff and put it back on the tree and I thought that would deter her. Well, it hasn't. But the thing is, she keeps going back for that one ornament, that, that.

One small knitted stocking.

Right. So she just keeps going back for that. We wrestle it away from her.

Golly, it's almost like that thing you thought was a repellent.

It's almost dropped. But you know what? She's only tearing up the same ornament. So.

I have a beautiful Christmas tree with beautiful ornaments up high where Biscuit can't get them and this one ugly, half destroyed ornament down low. So.

And that's the one she keeps going.

That's the one she keeps going for. So at least he's not tearing anything else up.

At least. At least the really attractive ornaments are.

Out of her range, are out of her reach. So I wouldn't say this is a win necessarily, but it's not a loss.

Yeah, it's not a total. It's a, it's like a small victory. It's a half victory.

It's maybe a draw.

I guess that may be a draw. But it's funny that that stuff you sprayed on that half knitted or that small knitted stocking, it's like that instead of being a deterrent, it's almost like maybe it's the exact opposite.

It almost ends up here. And I thought, oh, yeah, exactly. I'm like, well, but either way, if it keeps her from leaving the rest of the tree alone, then.

Then I guess it's sort of worth it.

I guess it's worth it. I mean, it's not ideal, but it's better than, you know, what it could be.

I guess maybe that's something you might be willing to sacrifice just to know that the other ornaments on the tree are going to be okay.

I mean, this stocking is it, it's over, you know, I mean, it's already half destroyed, so it's over, but sort.

Of conceded defeat with it.

May, maybe you, maybe you sacrifice that battle to win the war.

I don't know. There you go. I like that.

Maybe I hate to use a war analogy, but, you know, seems fitting.

People, you know, they know what you're getting at there. You know, protecting, protecting ornaments on a tree when you have pets is like a mini war. Do have a Fake tree. Right.

Yes.

Yes, we do too. We do too.

Right. You said you went to the fake one. And we did.

And I do miss the, I do miss the, the pond smell of the real tree. The pond scented candles are quite all right, but they're just, they're not quite the same as the real tree.

White, all right, is like damming with faint. It really is. They are quite all right, but I.

Can'T appreciate the ease of putting up a real tree and taking it down. Or putting up a fake tree, I should say, and take it down in comparison to the real tree. Fake trees, a lot easier.

Yeah.

Yeah. You know, the road I live on, there's a Christmas tree farm down the road at, at the end of the road. Oh, yeah. And I, I mean, boy, I tell you what, the day after Thanksgiving, it was a busy day here on this road. I mean, everybody coming in to get their tree day after Thanksgiving.

And I'm sure you stepped outside your house and, and got a big whiff of, of palm from that farm.

Yeah. You know, I mean, I live in Bowling Green, so it either smells like trees or Hill's dog food plant, so.

Oh, yeah.

I believe that you remember that you went to Western. Yes.

And I do remember.

Smelling hills dog food.

Right. Yes. You know what it's like.

Sure.

You know, say this might be the last episode of Demand and Disrupt potentially.

Yeah, yeah. Before the new year. Anyhow. Yes.

I, I, we're, I've got a great episod. So coming up, it'll either end the year or it'll start through 2026. So one or the other, either way, the peeps are in good hands.

Yes.

You know, if listeners want to do us a treat, they can always leave us a review that helps other people to find us. Now, I know that leaving a review is a hassle. It's not super easy for people who are disabled a lot of times. I know that.

So, so, yeah, it can just be time consuming on top of other things that people want to do or need to do. But we appreciate it more than you will ever know. And with the new year coming up, we're always looking to, you know, tweak our show in ways that people want to perhaps see tweaked and, you know, make any adjustments that people would like to see made or at least do our. Do our best to meet them by halfway at the very least. So if you have any kind of suggestions, people you want to hear from in the new year, topics that you'd like to hear addressed in the New year. Let us know. And there's plenty of ways you can do that. We always enjoy hearing from our disruptors via email at an address that's really hard to remember. Demand and disrupt.

There you go. You can also reach out to us on Facebook, and the Facebook is in the show notes always.

Yeah, leave us a message there.

You know, one of the other things I'd like for people to let me know is what. Not just what do you want from the show, but what can we do more for the disabled community now?

What.

What can we do and be doing more of? Like, you know, I've kicked around the idea of a newsletter. We can do an email newsletter, but.

Right.

You know, maybe people are tired of those. I don't know. You think?

Well, you know, it just depends. Some people. Some people are bigger readers than others. But I can see where there might be a. A niche for newsletters. But Kimberly's right, folks. We are here to serve. So anything that we can do to be of assistance and value to people with disabilities, let us know. Don't be shy.

No, not at all. Don't be shy. Let us know. I think we're doing. We're doing the Lord's work here, people. We are doing important things. Getting the word out about people with disabilities, trying to. Trying to make things better.

Just making brothers and sisters. Lift your cups up. I'm gonna start talking like a Southern Baptist.

You are getting a little charismatic here.

Blame it on the coffee.

Blame it. Yeah, yeah. No more coffee for you. But I do want to hear. Do you. Is there an interest in a Patreon? You know, I could produce maybe some extra content if you all would like that. What kind of content would you like to see? Would you like a discussion group that everybody would like to join in via. I don't know, Google, Meet over, zoom, discord, whatever. We can do any number of things. I just want to know what would best serve this community. I know.

The center for Accessible Living is working on really upping the advocacy game. So how can we help be a part of that? What can we do to help organize and get things together to really make 2026 the year? Kentucky, we solve this issue of discrimination. You know what? Let's just do it.

We want to make 2026 a banner year, and we are people serving people.

That's right. And you know what? Go big or go home. Right? Everybody knows I love a New Year's resolution, so.

That's right. Yeah. Go big or go home.

There you go.

Couldn't have said it Better myself.

All right, gang, so we're gonna hear your interview, Sam, with David.

Perfect.

All right. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. Bye, gang.

Well, I am beyond blessed today to be joined by a man who has not and will not let paraplegia slow him down. He is a veteran in the wheelchair athletics department. I mean, you name it, whether it's wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball, road racing, he's pretty much dabbled in everything and definitely excelled in everything. So needless to say, he's got plenty of stories, including he retired not too long ago from a 30 plus year career in the realm of it. So we'll talk a little bit about that. We'll also get a little bit of background into the incident that left him paralyzed at a young age and how he first dove into wheelchair athletics. And we'll also explore his endeavors when it comes to coaching and organizing other teams. So I tell you, the list just goes on and on with this man. So let's welcome him direct via Zoom from Lexington, Kentucky, Mr. David Hartsack.

Hey. Howdy. Glad to be with you this afternoon.

Well, it's good be grace with your presence, sir, for sure. Now you, like we mentioned, you retired. I guess it's been a few years now since you've retired from it and you've got children that I know are grown and gone at this point. You've got. You've got two children, right, David?

Correct. Nine. In 1998, I adopted my first job from China. And about two years later, I realized she needed a sister and I did it again in 01. So I have two daughters from China, adopted. And of course.

Yeah, they are grown and gone now out on their own. One's in the sun down in Tampa, Florida and the other one is the code up in Cincinnati. So.

Well, not too far away, but at.

Least the one in Cincinnati is fairly close. And there's nothing wrong with, with having a free bed to sleep in in Florida whenever you venture down to the Tampa area. For sure. Now, I think I read, David, that you came to to Kentucky a while back to pursue wheelchair athletics, but you're not originally from Kentucky, are you?

Yes, I am.

Okay.

Was blessed to be born at Fort Knox, Kentucky. I never got to serve in the services, but I was born at Ireland army hospital.

There, 1958, and grew up in Meade county, small rural community.

Oh, Mead County, Brandenburg.

Yeah, I graduated. Well, I took my GED at 17 and opted out of my senior year.

I don't think there was that wheelchair friendly, you know, back in the day before ADA and all that stuff is even recognized, right? I only needed three credits to graduate and, you know, I ended up opting to take a GED and was out of high school in about five hours.

Gotcha. Well, good for you. Yeah, Mead county was where at? Well, actually, I'll start in Fort Knox before mid County. So you were in Kentucky even before your pursuit of wheelchair athletics. Now, in a feature of yours that I listened to on YouTube, it was aired on Wlex, channel 18 a few years back. It was noted that you had little if any interest, David, in sports prior to your accident at age 16. So before we talk a bit about that, sort of give me a feel for what life was. Was like for you in those early years, along with the interests and hobbies that primarily kept you busy.

Well, prior to my accident.

I learned to work at an early age, got into a little trouble and my mom couldn't make financial restitution, so the feller put me to work in a gas station.

Oh, gotcha.

You know, and, you know, I just enjoyed the environment and the work and the people and stuff and all that, and. And learned how to make an honest living, you know, at a very early age. And from then on, from maybe 11, 12 years old, I mean, I was always working, finding odd jobs to do and everything and, you know, had my career and everything planned out to be a diesel mechanic and, you know.

But as life would have it and stuff and all that. At the age of 16, I had a car wreck. Out drinking and driving, making bad choices, you know, at a young age, you know, and, you know, that's caused my paraplegia. And that was in April of 1975. And to give the extent of my injuries.

The car rode over three times and blew up. And the guy that was with me, he pulled me out of the car and I was taken to Elizabethtown Hard Memorial Hospital. And they took one look at me, took a few X rays and said there's not a whole lot they could do. So they rushed me to Local General. I was in a coma for about five days. They kept me out. And not only did I break my leg in three places, I broke my left wrist, punctured my left lung, ruptured my spleen, and oh goodness, broke my back at T10 11. And of course, whenever they got me to Local General, they opened me up in the front, repaired my spleen.

Then flipped me over on my back, put rods in my back, Harrington rods. And.

So that was in April. I got out of. I went to rehab a month later at what's now Frazier Rehab. When I went there, it was only three stories. So, you know, it's been a while. A lot of good changes back.

Yeah. Then you went.

To a facility in eastern Kentucky for therapy, correct?

Yeah, I got home, like, the 3rd of July and, you know, sit at home and, you know, wondering what my future held for me. I needed three credits to graduate high school. And so after my ged, they thought, well, you want to go to vocational school, college? What do you want to do? And I didn't really know. So they sent me to what is now called Carl Perkins over in Thelma, Kentucky, the side of Prestonsburg.

Elma.

Thelma.

Oh, Thelma. Okay, I was gonna say Thelma I've heard of. Okay. I know, David, that it was at this facility that you formed a passion for athletics while doing therapy in the process. So tell me a bit about, you know, maybe the nuts and bolts of the therapy you underwent and sort of describe how this went hand in hand with the discovery of your sporting interests.

Well, I was in, you know, working with the therapist there, going to school. They had a vocational school there and stuff.

So they introduced me to wheelchair basketball. I got there in January and basketball season was still in, and got to, you know, go to a few practices and a couple of games and stuff, and I was hooked, you know, hook, line and sinker.

I told one of the therapists, this is, you know, in therapy session one day. I says, you know, if I'm going to spend the rest of my life in this chair, I want to see how it works. And I was always mechanical, you know, being in the garage and stuff and. And, you know, working on whatever need to be fixed and everything. If not, I was watching someone else do it. Got down on the floor and took my wheelchair apart, looked at it, says, yeah, that's it. And so I rolled over and took a nap.

Woke up, you know, a few minutes later and put it back together and everything. So I knew how to. What all they were supposed to do. And that was. That was at 17. And after I'd been there, spent three months in Eastern Kentucky rehab. And then they asked about wanting to go to college. And.

Like, college.

Like, I'm not sure.

You know, I wasn't real sure. No one in my family had ever gone to college or anything and all that. And so I thought, well, do they have a basketball team? And she says, oh, yeah, and just tell me about it. I was all in at that point. You know, I didn't know I was going to graduate in or whatever. I just wanted to go there, you know, be on the team and stuff and all that. So in 76, I came to Lexington, was at Cardinal Hill at the time. Cardinal Hill was using, you know, some of the rooms as dorms for, you know, people with disabilities to go to school.

Right.

Uk. And so I started doing that and what have you and.

Was having, you know, I got over there.

The fall of 76. I started playing basketball and everything and seeing how things work, worked out with other ones, got to, you know, know a lot of new people and stuff that was in chairs that, you know, I hadn't been exposed to.

Out in the real world.

Well, and in addition to your playing, that was a great time to attend uk, basketball wise, because that means you got to see Jack Goose Gibbons and Kyle Macy and that great 78 title team in action plenty of times, didn't you?

Rick Roby, Jay Shyler and all of them. And they actually came to Cardinal Hill in 78 when they won the national championship and had lunch with, you know, and I'd heard of, because I was already out of Cardinal Hill by then. And, you know, I went to. Had to make it my way to the cafeteria and. And have lunch with them, you know, not realizing, well, greatness that they were, you know, doing and stuff. And, you know, got to make coat hall and everything. And, you know, that was really good.

And you got to meet Joe B. Hall, too. That's awesome.

Yeah. And then 70.

The first part of.

78.

Which is the year they won it all.

Well, 77 that spring, you know.

I broke the rods in my back. Oh, whatever reason I was living off campus, you know, by then, and, you know, I went home to see my mom and get my laundry done, stuff like that, like any typical college student would do. And come back Monday morning. I went to raise up and I was like, man, I can't do this. And I had, you know, a couple other roommates in there and everything. And of course they'd get whatever I needed and all and everything. And, you know, I just couldn't move. And after, on the third day, I said, you know, I'm gonna do something, you know, I can't just lay here and have, you know, wait on me and stuff. So they.

Called an ambulance, nameless him back to Cardinal Hill. And I remember that table, it was like laying on a concrete floor and my rods were broke, you know, and the pain was excruciating. Tears just rolling down my eyes and stuff.

Oh, no.

She showed me the X ray. She says, oh, no, look at this. And I look, you know, kind of watery eyed, and she says that Rod's broke. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, you.

Know.

The fall of 77, I'd. I'd been out of school, you know, recovering from that, you know, and.

So I got into.

I was in Cardinal Hill. And they came in, entered my room on Monday morning. Support discharge me on Friday. I says, discharge me. You know, I was just barely able to get around. She says, yeah. And.

I says, and she asked me what I wanted to do. And I says, I said, I don't want to go home.

Yeah, I'm not ready yet, you know.

And, you know, life was bad enough, you know, with accessibility, with back home was even worse. And.

So I said, well, give me two weeks now.

You know, find a job and get hope or get in the apartment and they move out, you know, And Lord has funny ways of blessing. By the end of the week, I found a job in an apartment, moved out and all.

Oh, yeah, that was a. That was an eventful week for you.

Yeah, for sure. And I. It was a small job. I think it was Lexing opportunity Workshop and was only there for a little bit. And.

Then my car broke down and I had a date with one of the receptionists at Cardinal Hill.

Oh, gosh.

And, you know.

So that was long before cell phones. I mean, we're talking late 70s, you know, and John here in town hit on big record service. And, you know, he. He fixed my car and everything. I went over to paying or pick it up, and I didn't have, you know, that amount in my checking account. And I said, I don't get paid to the first month. And he said, okay, go ahead and take it. He says, if you don't, you know, come back and pay me, says, I'm gonna come pick it up. Charge double, you know. And of course, he was in a, you know, carrying way and stuff. So I went back.

To pay it off the first month and for the repairs. And he asked me if I had a job. I'm like, well, not at the moment. He says, you want one? Said, yeah.

Oh.

He asked me how much do I know about the city? I'm like, well, I've been around a time or two, but, you know, I can learn. He says, can you read this map behind me? And I said, yes, sir. And he said, we show up Monday morning with pencil in your pocket, I'll put you to work. Sure enough, I worked there for about a year, you know, and he's. He's just A great person to work for and all and everything. Handling people in distress when their car breaks down and stuff and. And I learned a lot from him. And then one of the counselors at Cardinal Hill got a hold of me. She kind of watched what I was. Was doing and stuff and all that, trying to make it a go of it. And she said, you know, they got a position over Central Baptist you may be interested in.

So I went over and interviewed them and they just went off to me on weekends and I sat there and looked at that lady and I said, man, I says, I play basketball weekends.

Yeah, I've got to have my weekends free for sports.

Yeah. You know, and then the third time they offered it to me, they offered to me full time with benefits. And I'm like, well, I'm have to re think this, you know. And sure enough, I took it and was there. Blessed to have been there for 10 years. Taught me a lot of discipline about work and you know, I was single then.

So.

Were you in it there at Central Baptist?

Well, I worked the switchboard and stuff, which was a telephone system back in those days and, and I did little insurance, you know, in slow hours, but I would work first, second, third shift, double shifts and everything. You know, as I said, I was blessed to be there for 10 years and.

Yeah. Then.

Just out of curiosity, did you, did you finish college, David, or.

No, not in the 70s and 80s. I went back to school in 90s.

Oh, did you? Okay, so later on.

Yeah, I was getting to that part.

Oh, you were working your way to it. Okay. Yeah.

And then in the 80s, you know, I was.

You know, back then I was still smoking cigarettes and stuff and all that. And I got introduced to road racing in 84. A friend of mine had done it and you know, I had to go down and see what it was all about. So I modified my chair, my basketball chair to do it. And my goal was to do it in one hour, you know, and I'd just given up cigarettes, you know, not couldn't do both. And so I was, I'd be out training in my chair a little bit. All my goal was to get it under one hour. And my first bluegrass 10K, 1984, I finished in 58 minutes and for 10K. And I was like, I'm so.

So you did it in less than an hour?

Yeah. And so that kind of started my road racing off and went through there and you know, was just excited about getting done. You know, it took me two years after that and another model, another racing Chair for that, to win that race. I think that was in 86. I won my first one.

Okay, so that was your fully full fledged racing chair after an adapted one that you had those first few years.

Yeah, and. And from then on, you know, I got out in the winter, you know, I was playing basketball.

In the summer, doing road racing and then tennis came along about 1988.

And that's.

Right before I switched jobs in the spring of 88, me and a buddy of mine went to Fort Lauderdale to see what all the hoopla was about. Oh, yeah, one of my former teammates, he was down there at Ball harbor and he was a manager of Marriott and everything. We went down, seen him, stayed him a few days and stuff and just see what all the hoopla was about. You know, it was just a bunch of partying and everything. Something, you know, a lot of young kids do for whatever reason.

Coming. On the way back home, you know, I was coming, you know, south of Atlanta and I told a friend, I says, you know, I'm gonna change jobs.

And this was in April. And he said, oh, no, you know, I said, man, you've been Central Baptist 10 years. You got seniority, you know, you got all the benefits and everything. And I said, and, you know, it. The spirit just came on me that, yeah, I'm going to change jobs. And so.

We came back and, you know, sure enough, a couple months later.

I had another interview with Department of Agriculture.

The agency was the Farmer's Home Administration at the time. And, and I interviewed with them, you know, like, I know at church. She said, you know, they're mandated to hire someone with a disability. And I'm like, okay. And I even told him in the interview that don't hire me just because I'm disabled. I got a job, you know, and just hire me because you think I can do the job.

Right.

And that was, that was in procurement and buying, you know, a lot of.

Office supplies and stuff with.

For our employees at the time we had like 400 employees in our particular agency across the state.

Okay, so furnishing supplies was your, your primary forte, your primary duties there.

Yeah, and we hired caretakers, you know, to mow the inventory properties that we had because the, you know, a farmer's home, they offered not only farmers loans, they also did low income housing and.

Rural infrastructure loans and stuff and all that. And we did the contracts for our offices space and furniture and stuff like that. Well, within a year, I get a notice in my, in my inbox and I seen it was from my supervisor and it was, you know, Memorial Day weekend. And I was like, oh, I ain't gonna look at that. I look at that, you know, Tuesday morning I get back and sure enough, Tuesday morning I get back and take a look at that and you know, there's another form in there as a Form 52. I'll never forget it. I wouldn't ask the personnel person about it. She says, what's this for? Says, I'll ask for you to resign. I says, resigning, you know, you know, and it just come over me and, you know, that was getting into the afternoon and I just told my supervisor at the time, the administrative officer says, I need to go home. You know, I just said, I just ain't feeling it. And so I just went on crying eyes out, you know, get fired. And for what reason? I didn't know. You know, I never even had a. Not much of a conversation with my immediate supervisor, much less, you know, any issues about work performance or if I've done something wrong or right, anything like that. And so the next day we had a meeting with the, the state director, which was over all of us. And she just said, well, I'll give you 30 days, find another job or, you know, resign. And you know, deep in my heart, it was like, man, I'm never, I've never quitted nothing in my life, you know.

Yeah, like I'm sticking with it, you.

Know, I was, I'm like, you know, almost 10, 12 years in my disability and, you know, I give up on this and try to create a life for myself. And so.

You know, it just come over me that afternoon. It's like, call your EO officer, you know. And I did and talked to him on the phone for a few minutes and he said, oh, I think that was on Friday. He said, I got appointments Monday, but if you need me to be there, I can drop these appointments, you know. And I said, well, I need you to be here. So we went to Shawnee's and sit there.

And coffee and stuff for about three hours. And he took all these notes and stuff. And, you know, I had all these papers and, and all that. I says, you know, I never, I've never seen this coming. You know, not nothing. It was like hit me upside back of the head with a two by four, right. You know, the way it happened to me.

And talks away off guard.

Yeah. And so he took all his notes and went back. He was from over Western and took it down to Princeton. And.

So next day he called me up, he says, don't worry about your job, says, just do your job. Do what they ask you to do, you know, and work pertaining and stuff. And I said, okay. And so about the end of the week, they reassigned me into computers. And I didn't know nothing about computers. You know, this is like 1990 and stuff. And I was like, whoa, I don't know nothing about computers. But I was, you know, it was mechanical, some of it, you know, changing parts or whatever. I was interested in that. And sure, one of the, one of my co workers was going to school half day, working half a day and all that and everything. I seen how she was doing it. Well, you know, they was often like classes with adult ed. So I started taking adult ed classes. You know, I said, go to my skills here, you know, if I wanted to stick around. And sure enough got a different supervisor. And you know.

He, about a year or so later he asked, you know, in general conversation, I said, why go to school at night, learn about computers? So he took all my receipts and everything, went and got them paid for by the same director that tried to get me fired.

Oh, awesome.

But, but the EEO officer, when he called me back, you know.

And then the following week he's, you know, he says, you know, just do your job and everything. That's what I did. And then I got transferred into the, the computer world. And, you know, God has a funny way of dealing with situations, you know, when I was in high school.

Yeah, he has a way of making things work. You know, you got your schooling paid for, which was great.

Yeah.

And how, how long were you in the classes? By night?

I think about two years.

About two years.

That's about all they offered. And then I started going to lcc.

Lexington Community College. Yeah.

Yeah. And you know.

Went to school there.

And, you know, was.

Learning, you know, about the real world, you know, trying to get at least a two year degree in and was enjoying the sports and all.

I think that kept me healthy because when I go back and look at my surgical records and stuff and medical issues, I had like 40 some different procedures done. And it's like. And Lord has handled me long before.

Yeah.

You know, I even thought this thing through and stuff and a lot of.

Those are probably a blur at this point, but, you know, at least, you know, at least, you know, they all went, went well. And, and you definitely have always made the, the most of, of your time. And so you retired in, was it like 21, 22, something like that?

20, 20.

Okay, so you stayed with the government through retirement?

Yeah.

Awesome.

Been in my 33rd year.

Oh, well, that's great. Yeah. And then you got all those government benefits and, and things like that. So, you know, that was, that was icing on the cake for sure. Now, in terms of your athletic pursuits, David, why don't we start with tennis? Just one example of a wheelchair sport that you've made a name for yourself. It's a sort of maybe take us through a few of your, your most treasured memories from tennis competition and perhaps a few highlights from your championship runs in the tennis realm.

Well, I've just enjoyed, you know, being on the tennis court. Started in 89 and, you know, there was, wasn't a whole lot out there. A friend of mine, Randy Snow, had written a book about it and, you know, I took his book and read through it and studied. You know, each tournament usually would have some kind of one of their top athletes, you know, would give a clinic and stuff. Went in and did that, took notes, everything. Wrote up my own little manual to hand out whenever I did.

Tennis because I actually worked for Lexington parks and recreation teaching their wheelchair tennis and also at the 5th 3rd Bank Pro Challenge tournament they had here. I've had three or four years where bring in top talent. Ran a tournament in Louisville for seven, eight years up there and even did the collegiate national championships up there. And.

Okay, so, yeah, in addition to partaking in these things, you've even run quite a few.

Yeah, I got into a lot, you know, with the administrative part of it and everything, you know, ran the tournament, you know, national championships, collegiate championships up there and, and just met a lot of good people. I mean, I was all up, down, east coast and south, you know, playing tournaments. You know.

At the time, the U. S. Open Wheelchair Division was at St. Louis Forest park out there, which is a real nice facility.

That's not a terrible job from Lexington.

Yeah, but, you know, I was able to do all that and actually won the eve craft award one year for all the stuff I was doing, volunteering and doing all the things I was doing. I was with the state.

USTA for 10 years as chairperson for wheelchair tennis, and then also on the committee for USTA's southern section for 12 years, and then also on the national committee for wheelchair tennis. And one of the highlights of that I got to go see.

In New York. That's where the annual meeting is held during the u. S. Open. And one year I got to go see David Letterman. Took the afternoon off because, oh, how cool. You know, it's actually done at five o' clock in the Afternoon. So I got to go over and.

Yeah, I've heard that even though we'd see it at 10:30, 11:30 at night, it was always taped late in the afternoon.

Yeah. Like five o' clock and stuff. Got to go see some matches there. Andre Agassi was my first match and everything. And.

You know, and then I actually had the dinner in the President's box, you know, and that's like the Mecca of tennis up there, you know, have lunch with the president of this association. Always coming by and saying everything. Billie Jean King several times.

So they treated you like a king up there, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah.

That was just, you know, and then met a lot of good people, you know, even people in power chairs, you know, quadriplegics, they'd take the racket to their hand and stuff. And, you know, I've won a couple of championships with them players and everything. And he would just send me to the. To the net. He said, I got the baseline covered and everything in his power chair. I said, well, as long as your battery don't run down, were good. And, you know, that was a lot of fun. And a lot of the tournaments are held at resorts.

Oh, yeah, the fancy, upscale places.

Yeah. And. But there, There's a lot of good memories and stuff there.

Yeah. And you got to see Letterman, you got to watch Andre Agassi perform. Now, did you ever. Did you ever get to see Venus and Serena Williams up close and personal?

Yeah, I went up high on the. Of course, they look like ants down there, but they had a big jumbotrons.

From where you are. Yeah, yeah.

And seeing them play. There's Roger Federer. I got to see him play. Even at Cincinnati, where they have, you know, one of the.

Big pro tournaments up there, you got to see a lot of players, got to do a lot of exhibitions. In some of the clinics I ran, some of them I just attended, you know, it was, you know, tennis had been really good to me.

Yeah.

And, you know, kept me in, you know, pretty good physical condition, you know.

Hand in the middle of it and everything. You know, it. Yeah, I've overcome a lot of that, those medical issues, which, you know, at the time it seemed like a big deal, but then when I look back on it, like, man, yeah, you were in and out. You were down a couple of days or whatever.

Yeah, yeah. The Lord, you know, he. He always has ways of staying involved and making things work, for sure. And so from an advocacy standpoint and a, you know, coaching and playing standpoint, you definitely have a Long and diverse history with. With wheelchair tennis for sure. Now switching gears to basketball. This wheelchair basketball was one of those that I know you were hooked on ever since your days at the rehab facility in Eastern Kentucky. In fact, you were privileged to be part of the University of Kentucky's wheelchair basketball team, which claimed a national title in 2008. So I guess what, what were the parameters for. For being on the team? I guess. I guess you didn't have to be a UK student necessarily.

Yeah, well, I got started in eastern Kentucky in 76.

Right.

That fall I started playing with, you know, University of Kentucky Wheelcats. And they were like. Well, at one time it was, you know, all college students, but then, you know, a couple years later, a lot of us aged out and stuff and all that, and so they just develop a club sport. And what was unique about that team and stuff, an organization, is that 1979, one of our players was a college graduate student, you know, doing his thesis on college or wheelchair basketball. And guy was taking pictures and pictures and pictures. And, you know, I was working at the hospital back then and, you know, I didn't get off to 10 o'. Clock. He'd meet me at the gym, you know, we'd practice a couple hours, you know, until midnight. Yeah, generally we practice it, you know, like from 5 to 7 or something, but, you know, with my 2 to 10 work schedule, you know, during the week, he would meet me at 10 o' clock and we would, you know, work on skills and shooting and stuff and all that. And, you know, and he was just a great philosopher and just a teacher of the game. He could. He was a dominant player. He's like 6, 10, you know, and sit real tall in the chair and, you know, he'd be sitting under a basket, but if someone was on him, he'd pass to the open man, you know, said open man's got to make the shot since, you know, he, he didn't need 50 points a game. He could have scored it easy, but he was more of a teacher of the game and stuff.

Yeah. So he taught. He. He helped reinforce those fundamentals.

Yeah. And during his tenure there, he started the Bluegrass Invitational Tournament, which is a premier tournament which invited Only the top.

20 teams in the nation. And of course, Real Cats were the host team. So we got in whether we were in the top 10, which we never were at that time, or the bottom 10, which we were a lot of times. And, you know, it was a great experience and stuff to play and watch that talent.

Yeah.

Year after year and did it for, gosh, several years there.

Yeah. The Wheel Cats. That's a. That's a great name. Now, just out of curiosity, I know it's an adaptive sport, so it's the. Is the goal still 10ft high or is it lower?

Yeah, it's all the same.

Okay. Everything's the same.

The boundaries are, you know, and they follow. Pretty much follow the same.

Rules as collegiate ball. It was about, oh, 2010 or so, somewhere around there, they disbanded. Or maybe even earlier than that, the Wheel Caps disbanded and everything.

Okay. Yeah. Because I knew 2008, they wanted all.

Yeah, well, we started playing for Cardinal hill in like 2000, I believe it was, and they supported the team. One of the recreation therapists at that.

They got her degree there at University of Kentucky, met another player from the west coast and they got married and was really involved in wheelchair sports. And she came after her husband passed, she came back. Her mom lived like two doors down from me, and she came back to be closer to her mom and stuff. And she got, you know, recreation therapist job at Cardinal Hill. And so she started up the team again.

Oh, so that was actually a Cardinal Hill team that won it all in 08.

Wheels.

And yeah, we beat the top four teams by a total of four points.

Oh, my goodness. So Hell on Wheels, is that what they were called?

Yeah.

That's awesome.

I was like, man, that was the most exciting tournament I've ever seen.

Yeah, it was made up of former Wheel Cats at Kentucky now.

Yeah. During that tournament, or maybe, you know, in general, who were the teams that you considered to be your. Your biggest rivals?

Gosh, there were so many of them. It seemed like they all were better than we were. They were just coming to spank us. And, you know, if you. We started on Friday, you know, Friday about noon, and if you lost, you played another game, you know, Friday evening, then you had to be back Saturday morning for the 8 o' clock game.

Oh. So it was like a double elimination type thing, or. At any rate, the road was just harder if you lost.

After we won the national championship in 2000.

Our coach had gotten cancer and passed in 2009. And so they asked me if I would coach or want to coach. And I said, well, if I'm going to coach, I can't be a player. And so I, you know, kind of resigned from playing and got into coaching, you know, and then in 2010, we actually won that tournament at the Bluegrass Invitational, which was, you know, I've always. I've seen a lot of champions come and Go over the years and always desired to be one, never thought it would be. And I got to be, you know, a national champion. And, you know, we all got rings for it and everything, and it was just, you know.

Yeah, so you've. You've won a. You've won a title as both a player and a coach.

Yeah. And. And so I coached a little bit after that, and then I think 2015, we actually disbanded again. And then, you know, the team moved up to Lowell because all the players were. Lowell.

Okay.

It was done with that then concentrate on wrapping up my.

You know, work. And I was doing, you know, with Department of Agriculture.

2010 was a big year for you as a coach, winning the Bluegrass Invitational. And of course, 2008, you were a national champion as a. As a player. The hello on Wheels. Do you remember who you beat in the, in the title game?

Oh, God.

I mean, went by so fast.

It's one of those things. It's probably kind of a blur now. But anyway, whoever you defeated, it was. It was a victory well earned, no doubt. Yeah. And in a pretty close game. So, yeah, kudos to the Hell on Wheels for that, that championship run and, and the. The magic made along the way. Now, your extensive racing resume also, David, includes. I know last year in 2024, that was your 40th consecutive year of competing in Lexington's annual Bluegrass 10K. And did you. What. Were you able to do that this year, David? In 25.

Yeah. Made 41.

So that made 41. Yes.

Yeah. This year, absolutely.

So 41 years. And. And you've not missed a single one. That is to be commended. So sort of this. Describe what has fostered your long term loyalty to this race and what holds such a significant spot in your heart.

David, what's the first race I ever competed in?

Yeah, with a. With a basketball adapted wheelchair. I know those first few years, yeah.

That was pretty heavy chair.

You know, and of course I just got started and I was working at the hospital and then.

One of the sales reps or whatever stuck his head in the window and, you know, say, are you David? I said, yeah. I said, you do what you race? Yeah, he says, I think her company, like, sponsor you and stuff. And so I was one of the first athletes to have contract with Lovejoy Medical back then.

And actually you got yourself a sponsor.

Yeah, you know, bought me a new race a year that was good there. And then, you know, I was working with. Once I started working federal government, I had all my weekends off, you know, and a lot of three Day, weekends, which is a blessing and stuff.

Yeah. Especially for travel because you, you know, you went long distance to compete in a lot of those races.

And then, you know, I.

One of the guys, he was a Paralympian, I trained with him. He said, well, if you're gonna race, you gotta do Boston, you know, that's the ultimate, you know, in the United States to do the Boston Marathon.

Oh, sure, Boston Marathon.

And what's unique about that race is you have to qualify. Each age, division and bracket has the qualifying time. And he says you're gonna have to, you know, do do this and like. Okay.

And so you had to partake in some qualifying events.

Yeah. And we trained in Louisville. We started out at the fairgrounds. He didn't live too far from there, would go to his apartment, you know, and stage there and then push over to the.

Fairgrounds about daylight and it's like a two mile loop around there. So that worked out perfect. We only do it 13 times to do a marathon. And it was, it was flat, you know, and, you know, we trained for, gosh, three, four years and all before.

You even did your first Boston Marathon.

Yeah. Oh, gosh, that goes several other marathons. You know, I've done Columbus, I've done Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, which actually goes. So starts in Canada, in Ontario.

Oh, on the other side of the.

River, going down through that tunnel, you know, and having to come up the other end.

That's a neat experience, I'm sure.

Yeah.

This is all en road to the Boston Marathon. Now, how many, how many times did you run The Boston Marathon?

Three times. My third. First time was the 99th running of the Boston. And, you know, I was like, lord, I just want to finish this, you know, 26 miles. And heartbreak Hill was a reason why they call it Heartbreak, because if you.

You know, Heartbreak Hill, that, that does a lot of people in, I bet.

Yeah, it's a two mile climb and everything. And they hand out, you know, papers, newspapers, and it's got everybody's number and their name and stuff. So people see you coming and, you know, call out your name stuff and all that and encourage you. And so I did the 99th, and that's my first one. And I kept remembering what my friend said, that you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it. And, you know, I was coming home from work, you know, jumping in my racing chair, you know, training 10, 15 miles, you know, evenings and then usually Sundays mornings when we trained in Louisville, and doing 26, that one, and start all over On Monday.

And did it about six days a week. And you know, I did. After I did the 99th, I said, we got to do 100. You know, get my name in the book.

Yeah. For doing the 100th. Celebrating the hundredth anniversary with them.

Yeah. There was like 125 wheelchairs in the race and like 40,000 runners. And when you look behind you, all you could see was a sea of people.

Oh, yeah, no doubt.

And then the wheelchairs, you know, they got, I think, 15 minute head start. And so, you know, by the time I made it that point, you know, the runners never called me. They weren't far behind, but they never called me.

Never exactly cox.

Racers. I mean, they're doing it, you know, under two hours. You know, I always did my about 2:10, somewhere around there. Two hours.

But, you know, he always finished in roughly two hours.

Yeah. And today, I mean, they're doing it like an hour, 20 minutes or so.

Oh, well, yeah, it's amazing. I'm sure how fast a lot of them are going down it and. And you know, we probably don't want to think about the, the rigorous training that they go through, but you went through enough yourself back in the day to. To make that happen. Now what? Your 40th Bluegrass 10K, David, was run, like I said, last year in 2024, and it scored you your 10th, first place finish in your division. But I know that this meant overcoming some. Some serious complications prior to the race last year. So talk, if you would, about the. A diagnosis that you were confronted with a few months prior to your 40th bluegrass 10k and the steps you took to even think about the possibility of partaking in it.

April 24, I remember they pretty well got up, got my coffee, and we was having a storm and the electric went off. And so I went out to the garage and I was like, let me see what I can fool around here. And I was working on a bench and tinker with it a few minutes. And so I thought I'd just come back in the house. And I came back the ramp. I was like, man, this ramp is so hard. I remember being this hard to get up. I got up and I sit in the kitchen for a moment and.

My girlfriend was sitting here at the table and, you know, doing work. And, you know, I just kind of went on by her and everything. And I went in to the.

Bathroom and I just started, you know, everything coming up and what wasn't coming up one way was going out the other. And.

All I could remember after Being in there for almost an hour is going to the bedroom. And, you know, I couldn't even lay my head down on the bed. I was like, you know, oh, goodness. You know, I told her, I said, you know, call 91 1. I just don't feel good. And, you know.

The EMTs are a couple blocks away from here, so they were here in no time. Come in, and they. I was in the bedroom. They say, can you.

Push out to the living room? And I turned around, and as far as I went, my eyes just kind of rolled back in my head. I couldn't move nothing. You know, I was kind of shaking and, you know, just.

That had to be scary for you and girlfriend both.

Yeah. And so he says, you know, I said, I can't move nothing. And, you know, kind of scared me. And they laid me on the gurney and, you know, I could just see the, you know, my eyes back in my head. You know, I could hear noises around me and stuff. They took me in, got me in the ambulance, and they said, where you want to go? And I said, baptist. And over there. And I remember I'll ever bump in the road. I said, I know, you guys doing a great job. I said, but these pumps are killing me.

So they. They get me over there, you know, I'm already dehydrated and everything. Trying to get a needle in me and just sticking me left and right, you know. You know, trying to figure out what's going on, trying to get blood and, you know, everything going on, and I'm freezing to death, you know. I said, you know, good Lord kept me living by. My teeth chattered.

Yeah, that chatter was like a blessing in disguise, wasn't it?

Yeah. And, you know, the nurse come in, says, can you sign this paper? And I said, what's it for? She says, we may have to use the paddles, you know, and they talked about getting room and intensive care and stuff and all that.

They brought the paddles in there, and I said, we're not playing tennis, are we?

You know, that's all I can think of, you know, but, you know, I felt, you know, Lord had his hand on it. I wasn't worried, but, you know, it's like, if I was ready to go, I was ready to go, and so.

And you made a slight joke out of it about playing tennis. So at least, you know, you kept your sense of humor through everything.

And they kept me in there for about eight hours and finally just moved me up to a regular room. And, you know, and then once I. They run all these tests and everything and all that, you know, they're trying to figure out what's going on. And, you know, they see a sack of fluid in my spine at L4 or 5, which my original break was at T10, 11. And I couldn't figure none of that out. And their diagnosis finally was sepsis. Infection of blood. He said it could have been viral.

Could have been contact or bacterial. They didn't know how I got it.

So it was a blood infection.

Yeah. And that was in April. So I spent two weeks in Baptist and then two weeks trying to gather my strength. And, you know, and my motto all along is like, do something today. And I can't remember this when I was training for sports or whatever. Just in life, you know, what can I do today to make tomorrow better? You know, and with training or whatever, you know, schooling, it's always been there and stuff. And.

So.

So you spent the next few months just sort of training, trying to gain your strength?

Yeah, I got out in May 1st, May, and I'm like, May, June, July 4th. So that's kind of this training regimen every other day, either weights, you know, the bike or whatever, doing what I could do without, you know, over exerting myself.

Yeah, not too much, not too little.

Yeah. I finished the race and actually won it. And it's like, wow.

Yeah. You were first place in your age division again, weren't you?

Yeah.

That's awesome that you were able to run to begin with because I know going into it you were like, please just let me finish. Right?

Yeah. And then 2025 had its challenges, which I didn't know about till after the race.

You know, I was, you know, training, everything was going along pretty good. And then I kind of tweaked my shoulder. I was like, oh, that don't feel good. You know, I kind of laid off three or four days and then went to get back out and the heat set in. And I think, man, if you wasn't out there at 8 o', clock, it was too hot by night. I mean, just mother and hot side. There went two weeks of non training prior to the race, and I did the race and I got third place.

That's awesome too. So. So we got third this time around.

Yeah. And there was a guy that beat me. He was actually, you know, older. I was. He was in his 70s.

Oh, he was in his 70s. I gotta show you the level of competition at all these bluegrass 10 days. And I'm glad you mentioned 4th of July, you know, that, that, that's that's when it's annually held. And so you always have to factor in the heat, and that always adds even more complications. And I'm sure.

I'm sure you didn't want to, you know, with my shoulder aching and stuff, I didn't want to do any more damage than whatever's done. So, you know, once I seen I was out of the. The running, I just, you know, stayed, you know, my base and just finished the race.

Yeah, I just pretty much kept going at a constant rate like you were.

And then, you know, I got back and everything and started looking into my shoulder, what was going on with it. And, you know, come to find out, three of the four tenants that hold your rotator cuff together were.

Torn to the point beyond repair. And the MRI showed up all that. And the doctor says, well.

You know, doing a total shoulder replacement wouldn't a real good option. And. But there's another surgery where they take a muscle out of your. Underneath your arm and put it over top. And, you know, I may be facing that coming up. I don't know.

Oh, okay. So that hadn't happened yet.

Pain and stuff holds up and all that.

Yeah. Your pain tolerance and other things. Well, you know, maybe with a little luck, you won't need it. And if you do, we'll. We'll definitely wish you all the luck in the world. But it's great that you were able to, you know, even this year, despite the, you know, the pain in your shoulder and all, and still be able to run the. The race and get. Get third in your division. Now, I know you're. I know your days of competition are behind you in large part, but you continue to remain active, David, in the realm of coaching and even organizing teams. So why don't you elaborate a bit on the endeavors which are keeping you active and engaged these days in sports from sort of a different angle.

Yeah.

When I retired in 2020, 21, I started assistant coach in Louisville, teaching the juniors up there and help run their program and everything. And then 23, 24, I took over as head coach and, you know, went through, you know, several tournaments with them, watching the kids grow and stuff. And just remembering, you know, when I was first started at uk, there were some colleges that had college programs going on. I was like, wow, that would be great, you know, for us to have that. And then next thing you know, the kids movement came along and it just boom, you know, here in the 2000s and everything.

And then 24, when I got sick, you know, I was out of It. I was actually, that morning, was gonna make my reservations to go to the nationals.

And.

Oh, that morning that you got sick.

You know, wheelchair basketball to do that and. But I've always been, you know, whatever sport it was, you know, even before or after the competition, you know, we'd sit around and talk about different things and, you know, get schooled or school people up, you know, and encourage them or whatever, just in that sport.

You know.

So juniors, I'm guessing, are, you know, paraplegics. What are they, like, 16 and under or something like that?

Yeah, some of them. Well, for basketball, they compete 21 and under, if they're still in school.

All 21 and under still in school. Gotcha.

Yeah, but, you know, the kids I was teaching was juniors would start at 7 up to.

13, and then 13 to 18 was varsity. Yeah.

Okay, so 7's the youngest.

Yeah. And then there was a lady, it was a physical therapist that worked on it for a couple years, getting the program developed for the school system. There's several around surrounding states across the United States, you know, that has programs for kids in school. And she's done a great job, not only with basketball, tennis, archery, track and field.

You know, several sports there. And they're working in tennis, too, I think, this year, and getting kids at an early age and just. And if you see them, if you can watch them grow when they first come on, you know, I was able to teach. One of the Dennis Embry's.

Assistant coaches had a kid that was in a wheelchair. You know, he had been pampered and stuff and all that, and he didn't want to do what I was asking him to do and stuff. And a couple of times, you know, his mom and dad, if he was an on court coaching and hollering at his kid, his mom was in the stand hollering at her kid and stuff and all that. About the third time, I said, would you cup of coffee? You know, leave there by himself, you know, and then he didn't want to come out on court, and I'm sitting there, you know, hitting a few balls by myself and said, man, it's a great time and stuff and all that, and, you know, see that kid. And finally he come out and, you know, at least tried, especially when his mom and dad was there and kind.

Of pushing him a little bit. Yeah, yeah.

So he got introduced to it, and then the assistant coach, he got a hip job at Wisconsin, invited me up there to a tournament, and the same kid, you know, he'd been around.

You know, Kids in his similar position, you know, with a disability, and, you know, I got to spend the camp with him and everything, and I left his mom and dad, and I said, that's not the same kid that was.

You know, he had shown a lot of growth since then, hadn't he?

Showed a lot of growth. I said, you know, this is already a young gentleman. You know, he was helping out other people and all that. And I said, you know, you know, that's what sports all about, is to watch them grow and see them to be able to do it in all the other sports of interest. Because not everybody wants to be a basketball player. Not everybody wants to travel and stuff, and all that, but to have the opportunity to get out and compete instead of just sit on the sidelines watching everybody else compete, it's really great.

Yeah, it's always great to have a, you know, a hand in that, and it gives you a great sense of pride and gratification. I know, and I believe I read you're also working on organizing some wheelchair basketball teams in Owensboro, aren't you?

I attempted to do that, and they give me a bunch of money, and being new to the game, you know, there was so many other tournaments going around it, we never did get it off the ground.

Oh, gotcha. Okay.

You know, and they had a timeline. They had to spend that money, and, you know, we had ended up giving it back and all, but they were all in for, you know, getting it together and everything. Had a lot of ideas, you know, made a few trips down here to get things organized. I wish we could have done it. I know they're doing things in Bowling Green now with things there with their parks and recreation.

Okay, so there's some wheelchair ball opportunities for our Bowling Green folks.

Yeah.

And. And, you know, maybe it didn't work out in Owensboro that time, but, you know, never say never, and hopefully it will at some point here before long, at least you made the attempt, and they were all in. And those are. Those are two big pluses for. For the future, for sure. So, David, in closing here, what are some resources that you would recommend for individuals who maybe our paraplegics and maybe know people who are. That might want to get involved in wheelchair athletics of some sort?

Find out maybe more information about it.

Your larger cities and parks and recs usually got something going on, and then some of the school systems, you may check and see what's going on. I know when I was doing racing, I was just.

You know, scanning the racing pages and stuff and Google Is fantastic for pulling up stuff.

Yeah. Google has been a lifesaver for me multiple times through the years. But anyway, so, yeah, check with the school system, wherever you're at, and maybe, you know, if they don't have anything, maybe they can refer you somewhere and maybe they know other. Other types of availability because, you know, if you're a paraplegic that, you know, the involvement in athletics can benefit you in ways that. That you've never imagined. Right, David?

Right.

Yeah.

One of the things I did this year, too, you know, not getting any younger, and I realized, like, wow, this is my 50th year being a paraplegic, you know. You know, what can I account for? You know, the successes, experiences and all that that I have had and stuff and all that. So I actually wrote my testimony and stuff and all that. You know, my faith in God. And, you know, I said, I went 60 years old before I actually joined the church that, you know, I believed in and got to hear the word. And I've been going to that church for, like, 10 years.

Oh, how cool. We'll give. We'll give a free plug to that church. What church do you go to?

Bethel Harvest.

Bethel Harvest in Lexington.

Yeah. But when I was 16, you know, I kind of. You know, my grandma drugged me to church a few times, and that's about it. And then, you know, I knew about him. I didn't know him, but kind of knew about him and stuff. And, you know, laying there in the hospital bed one night.

Down off my morphine and, you know, had a clear conscience, you know, I asked him in my life to, you know, be with me and guide me. I said, lord, just give me a half a chance, you know, and I'll do the rest. Of course, we know how that story goes.

Yeah.

Did it for a while, but, you know, I can see now that through the whole time, you know, even in the field working tobacco, one year when I was about 14.

You know, I was looking at the sky and said, lord, if you think I'm gonna do this for lynch, you know, striking dead now save us a lot.

A lot of. A lot of grief and stuff.

You aren't feeling it.

And I says, you know, here it is 30 years later, I'm working for the department that supports the farmer that supports. I support the people that support the farmers that grew the.

Yeah. With the Department of Agriculture. Oh, that's awesome. So. So, yeah, needless to say, the good Lord gave you your chance, and you. You took full advantage of it. So where can. Where can we find this testimonials and in a book of some sort.

Not yet.

Okay. It's not published at this point.

Yeah, no, I've loved a lot of notes and stuff and all and everything.

Maybe it will be at some point. But it's great to write that stuff down regardless, you know, for the family and friends and everybody but the that you know, and even hopefully future people that you don't know to to soak up and learn from for sure. Well, best of luck with with all your future endeavors in the realm of coaching and organizing teams and anything else that you may end up dabbling in. We have sure been inspired by your story. I know and I hope you've enjoyed it, David.

Yeah, I look forward to see it coming out and sharing it with, you know, friends and family and stuff.

Yeah, well, we know they'll all. We know they'll all enjoy it. Friends and family, that is. Plus our listeners as well. David, thank you so much. We'll do it again, sir.

Okay. Thank you much, Sam. Ho ho ho.

Demand and Disrupt is a production of the Advocado Press with generous support from the center for Accessible Living, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Our executive producers are me, Kimberly Parsley and Dave Mathis. Our sound engineer is Michael Parsley. Thanks to Chris Ankin for the use of his song Change. Don't forget to follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode and please consider leaving a review. You can find links to our email and social media in the show notes. Please reach out and let's keep the conversation going. Thanks everyone.

You say you've seen a change in.

Me.

Just for once I think I would agree.

We both know there's a difference We've had our curtain calling this time the right writings on the wall.

This wall of words we can't.

Two damaged hearts refuse to mend.

Church.

This situation's pointless with each and every day it's not a game we need to play.

We try to make things better Repair and rearrange things but each and every letter spelled out the for us to open up our minds and hearts to change.

Roll the dice then what will be will be.

Disregard for good to set us free.

There's just no way of knowing if love lives anymore Turn out the light and close the door.

We try to make things better Remember prepare and rearrange things Mu Teach and every letter spells out with me for us to open up our minds and hearts to change.