Physically challenged take to Presley Lake on skis

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Physically challenged take to Presley Lake on skis

Wheelchair-bound residents water ski for first time since accidents




BY LAURA HOUSTON

Daily Journal

Emily Word couldn't believe what she was doing Wednesday at Elvis Presley Lake.

Two years ago, she sustained an injury to her spinal cord when a house fell on her. While recovering at Jackson's Methodist Rehabilitation Center, the 21-year-old from Okolona heard about a water ski clinic and realized - she was ready for a change.

"It's well worth it," Word said. "It makes you feel better about yourself to get out and do stuff that doesn't seem possible."

Tupelo's second clinic brought together nine area residents, many planning to ski for the first time since enduring accidents that caused them to depend on wheelchairs for much of their mobility.

The event was sponsored by North Mississippi Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute, Unlimited Skiing and MRC. There are three such clinics in Brandon and one in Hattiesburg to give people statewide a chance to forget about disabilities and focus on abilities.

Equipment, instructions and will power made the clinic possible for its participants, said Ginny Boydston, director of therapeutic recreation at MRC for 23 years.

"In my opinion, they can do any sport," Boydston said. "Believe that you can do it, come out to a clinic and we'll show you how to do it."

Some equipment used included outriggers and freedom skis for balance and a training ski for first-timers. A two-man personal watercraft followed the ski boat in the event that a skier might fall.

Unlimited Skiing, operated by Bill and Denise Bowness, conducts ski classes and has played roles in approximately six clinics per summer over the past eight years and snow-ski clinics in the winter. Bill Bowness, who lost the use of his legs in a car accident, is a world champion water-skier.

"We try to ensure that there's a lot of people here to support them," said Denise Bowness. "It's set up for success."

Randy Lavender, of Tupelo, and Michael Sullivan, of the Carolina community, organized Living Independently For Everyone, a support group for people with disabilities that meets every second Tuesday.

Lavender, an avid sports enthusiast, understands the discouragement that often follows a life-changing accident. Seventeen years ago, he suffered spinal injuries in a motorcycle wreck, but he is as active as he ever was - handcycling, chair racing, water skiing and more.

"If you were a skier before the accident, you think all that is gone," Lavender said. "What my goal is now is to prove to everyone that you can still do everything you did before your accident."