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Amputee Athletes Go for the Extreme
By Miki Fairley
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Extreme sports enthusiast and BK amputee, Tim Sutherland, flies through the air as he starts the bike track. Photos courtesy of CPI. |
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"I think the O&P Extremity Games are
groundbreaking. In 20 years I really think there will be several
hundred athletes involved in this."—Buddy Elias, amputee
skateboarder, snowboarder.
A new venue for extreme sports enthusiasts who have limb loss or
difference opens this year as College Park Industries (CPI),
Fraser, Michigan, hosts the first O&P Extremity Games July 28-30
in Orlando, Florida.
At press time, athletes were preparing to participate in
skateboarding, wakeboarding, rock climbing, and BMX biking. There's
also a chance to win cash prizes along with the thrills:
first-place winners capture $5,000 per competition; second-place
winners take home $1,000 per competition, and third-place winners
net $250 per competition, for a total cash purse of $25,000, plus
non-cash prizes.
Exhibition sports that may join the competitive roster in coming
years also will be featured. An outstanding one is the Wounded
Warrior Project Kayak Exhibition Saturday, July 29, which is a race
showcasing the abilities of amputee solders from the conflicts in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Other exhibition sports include motocross
racing, skydiving, kickboxing, karate, and fourwheeling.
On Sunday, July 30, there is free Instructional Sporting Clinics
open to individuals age 13 or older who have limb loss or limb
difference, regardless of their current ability.
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Buddy Elias was the first to register for the event. |
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Among star competitors will be Chad Crittenden,
Season 9 Survivor: Vanuatu, Islands of Fire, competing in BMX
biking; and Garry Moore, founder of Amped Riders, competing in
skateboarding. A special guest of the games is Jon Comer, who will
help judge the skateboarding competition as well as conduct
skateboarding clinics. Comer, who lost a leg at age seven, is a
professional skateboarder, Skatewave professional athlete, skate
park designer, and star of the award-winning documentary Never Been
Done. What triggered the idea for the Extremity Games? Eric
Robinson, president of CPI, who is himself a passionate athlete and
sports enthusiast, said the company realized that "we weren't out
there in terms of our products" in Paralympic sports and other
events. "Paralympic events are generally flat track, straight
ahead, no uneven ground; downhill skiing also doesn't require an
all-terrain foot like ours," he said.
Then came that "eureka moment" when they realized that CPI was
getting calls from firefighters, surfboarders, skateboarders, and
others—those who need a foot like College Park's. "For instance, a
smokejumper in California was telling me that he couldn't wear any
other foot than College Park's when firefighting," said Robinson.
"He said that with other feet he can't walk the hills, can't run,
and can't descend. So we started looking at sports where our foot
shines. Our products are a perfect fit for extreme sports. The CPI
team said, Let's bring it all together'—and the O&P Extremity
Games was born."
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Craig Demartino's ascent of El Capitan. |
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Amputees are revved up for the Games. Buddy Elias
was the first person to register. "I can hardly express it in
words; I'm so excited about it! People will look back on us as
pioneers: Look what these guys started. It's phenomenal what CPI
and other companies are doing. I don't think there's any disability
that can stop us." Before he finally saw a doctor and underwent a
transtibial amputation, Elias had amputated several toes himself
trying to stop the progression of Buerger's disease, a rare
autoimmune disorder triggered by tobacco use.
Craig DeMartino, who lost his right foot after a harrowing
climbing accident in Colorado which nearly took his life, said,
"I'm getting really psyched to compete. I'm also really excited to
see others who are fighting hard to challenge the perception of
'disabled' people...It gives us all a chance to get out there with
like-minded people doing what we love." DeMartino, along with
teammate Hans Florine, climbed El Capitan in Yosemite National
Park, California, in 14 hours June 5; the previous climb had taken
four days.
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Cara Fortunato coaching basketball and on the climbing wall. |
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Cara Fortunato, who lost a leg above the knee in
an accident with landscaping machinery, describes the Games as an
"adventure." Fortunato has loved sports since she was a child. As
she adjusts to a new life, she has found a rewarding career as a
girls' basketball coach and wants to continue in sports as both
vocation and avocation for the rest of her life.
These are among the many athletes looking forward to living the
extreme. Elias urges others, "Don't let yourself or anyone else put
barriers around as to what you can do. The people I go with [the
Amped Riders and others] don't let those around them put
limitations on them—they go for it!" 
Table Of Contents - August 2006
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