How the National Veterans Wheelchair Games Rebuild Lives
By Robert L. Thomas Jr.
As the calendar turns to October, the weather begins to change, and we start to watch the leaves turn colors and fall off the trees, which helps let us know that winter is on its way.
We start preparing for the next couple of months when frigid cold sets in and the dreaded snow is on the ground. October is also a fun month; it’s spooky season. We get to enjoy watching people dress up as vampires, ghosts and goblins and kids enjoying trick-or-treating, playing games or getting some much-anticipated candy.
Halloween’s biggest theme is that everyone wears a mask. The idea of wearing a mask is to disguise yourself so no one recognizes you. But at other times, we also can wear a mask that those on the outside can’t see, especially when something catastrophic happens.
We put on a mask to hide the pain, anguish and self-doubt. We hold this facade that everything is OK and we’re fine, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, the pain is so bad that we lock ourselves in the house, isolating us from others so they don’t see how much we hurt, and we don’t want to appear as a burden.
However, when we have support from an organization such as Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) to help guide us out of those dark places, it’s integral in coming out of those emotionally low points, allowing us to remove the mask. PVA does this through numerous ways, but one big one is through our sports and recreation department.
For example, in July, we co-hosted the 43rd National Veterans Wheelchair Games with the Department of Veterans Affairs in New Orleans. It was a hugely successful event. When I arrived there, I saw tons of veterans with their invisible masks on, but as I talked to individuals who had never competed in the Games before, or it was their first time actually out and seeing this many individuals in wheelchairs, eyes were opened. The sense seemed to be that they never knew they could continue to be an athlete in this capacity. Some even used to just sit at home staring at the television, not wanting to go out because of what people would think.
Finding a community where we’re understood and accepted allows us to take that mask off and not feel like we have to have a certain facade. We can be who we are.
PVA sports events help our fellow veterans with spinal-cord injury and disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis get out, move their bodies and have a wonderful sense of camaraderie.
Everyone walks around with a mask on at some point, but with our PVA members, we want to make sure they know they don’t need one to live the life they want.
If you’re able to participate in local sporting events, check them out. It’s a great opportunity to be around fellow veterans who have a similar understanding of what you go through, and it’s a chance to have fun.
I hope to see even more veterans at next year’s 44th National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Minneapolis.
