Parker, Chris and I at last year's Run for the Cure
Chris, AKA Stouty, has conquered everything that has been thrown at him. Just before heading to Guelph University to play football, he tragically fell from a balcony and was paralysed, what would be seen by most as a devastating blow to this athlete. But not for Stouty, Stouty took this new challenge and found a new way to compete, Wheelchair Basketball.
For those that don't know Stouty, he owns a lot bling! 2 Paralympic Gold Medals, 1 Silver Paralympic Medal, and well, about 20 more medals but I won't list them all. They're all listed on the WheelChair Basketball Canada site. Here's the link.
We've always been very proud of all his accomplishments. So when he decided to retire, we knew it wouldn't be for long. He'd find something, he always does :)
Next challenge came about from my conversations with him about my CrossFit experience. Stouty decided it sounded right for him and away he went to CrossFit Indestri to meet with the coaches. This was the beginning of a whole new journey. Since joining CrossFit, not only has he seen major strength changes but he's accomplishing things doctors said he never would. That alone is an amazing feat.
But this is Stouty, he's not going to leave it there... Last year he competed in the Wasaga Beach Duathlon just a couple of months after joining CrossFit. This year, Chris competed in the CrossFit Open. Submitting videos of his workouts for the big people at CrossFit to see what this guy in a wheelchair can do. To say they were amazed would be an understatement. Big names in CrossFit were tweeting him, retweeting his videos, sending messages stating how inspirational. He got invited down to a seminar to work with a very well known person in the CF world, Carl Paoli. I was totally jealous LOL. May just have a CrossFit crush on that Paoli. Chris was featured on one of the CrossFit video updates.
But the Open was just the beginning of what Stouty planned on accomplishing this year. Chris was determined to "conquer the mountain" by entering in the 2013 MetCon Blue Adventure Race at Blue Mountain. Having done this race twice last year, I know the challenges those obstacles can bring. But it wasn't just the obstacles I was trying to figure out, how the heck was he going to get up that hill.
Well, Saturday morning Stouty strapped himself into his off-roading chair and with his "Band of Brothers", they took on MetCon and they didn't back down. With help from his friends and coaches, Chris conquered that mountain and every obstacle MetCon Blue had to throw at him. They climbed walls, swam through muck, climbed cargo nets, tackled monkey bars, jumped fire, and took on the half pipe.
I got a chance to watch Chris on the last obstacle, the half pipe ramp. The crowd was going crazy! Emotions were running wild for friends and family that watched this amazing human being tackle this course and come out stronger than ever. Every time I watch the video, my eyes well up with pride. I've posted a video below that my friend, Jen Nichol has provided on Facebook. I'll be sure to post the video of their trek once it's complete as there were about 3 or 4 people with cameras following them on the course.
Chris has been the person that I look to for inspiration and, at the rate he's going with all these accomplishments, there is no doubt in my mind that won't change!
Stay tuned for Stouty's next challenge. Not sure what it'll be yet but I hear there's talk of a Tough Mudder...
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