Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War II Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation
Discover the never-before-told true story of the paralyzed World War II veterans who started America''s first-ever wheelchair sports competitions -- and changed the world forever.
Wheels of Courage reveals the inspiring story of the world''s first wheelchair athletes: U.S. soldiers, sailors, and Marines who were paralyzed on the battlefield during World War II. They organized the first-ever wheelchair basketball teams within V.A. hospitals after the war, which quickly spread across the nation and changed the perception and treatment of disabled people. This book follows the lives of three of these vets, describing their time in the military, their injuries, their recovery, and their role in creating wheelchair basketball.
These men changed the narrative of disability, from one of pity to a new story of hope and endless potential. Their doctors changed the way the medical community looked at and treated disabled patients by treating the whole patient instead of just trying to make people as comfortable as possible in hopeless situations. And laws started changing to make the world more accessible to the disabled -- things we take for granted today, like sidewalk ramps.
For the disabled, for sports fans, for veterans, for history buffs -- this is a narrative of hope, perseverance, and acceptance.
