Our Stories: Josh Scanlon
Sports Programs Help Josh "Heal and Excel at life"
Ask an 18-year-old guy what sports he likes, and you expect a fairly standard response: maybe basketball, baseball, perhaps football. Josh Scanlon’s responses make you sit up and take notice. “I currently participate in wheelchair basketball, track and field, mono skiing and adaptive wakeboarding,” he said. “I also like recreational activities – hunting, fishing, swimming – and I have an adaptive bike. I’ve been on the USA Track team for the last two years and traveled to compete in Switzerland last summer.”
No couch potato; for Scanlon, it’s all about participating, even when the stakes are high. When he was 12, he was practicing gymnastics at home. A flip went wrong, and he crushed his T12 vertebra, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Following intensive care at Hennepin County Medical Center and acute rehab at Gillette Children’s, he began physical, occupational and pool therapies at Courage Center three times a week.
“Occupational therapy was helpful because the therapists showed me the life skills I use today,” Scanlon said. “Lots of things, like transferring in and out of my wheelchair and car.”
Pool therapy included stretching and strengthening workouts, including weightlifting.
In physical therapy, “I had an awesome therapist who made my workouts fun,” he said. “She taught me self-care tips and how to walk with braces. I still keep in touch with her and play paintball with her family at least once a year.”
She also introduced Scanlon to Courage Center’s Sports & Rec Department. “Very helpful, because sports are now the main part of my life! People told me about the many sports programs Courage Center had to offer, so I checked them all out. I had to narrow it down to a few favorites.”
But not slow it down. Today a high school senior, Scanlon remains at full throttle. His basketball wheelchair is different from his day chair; it has cambered wheels so he can turn quicker, and also has a wheel in the back so the chair is less likely to tip backward. He also uses a mono ski to snow ski, a track chair to race track laps, and an adaptive wakeboard to go wake to wake.
“Participating in sports means the world to me,” Scanlon is quick to admit. “I was involved in sports before my accident, and it’s been wonderful to still have that.”
Enjoying a terrific senior year, Scanlon’s basketball team is undefeated, and he’s on the B Honor Roll. “I head to Denver for basketball nationals in April,” he said. Next year, he intends to enter college and play wheelchair basketball. He’s thinking about going into therapeutic recreation or speech communication. “Or possibly both!”
Further down the road, Scanlon envisions himself getting married, starting a family and coaching. “Using my speech communication major, I hope to get a job as a TV newscaster. I’ll use my fame and fortune to speak to groups about kids with disabilities and raise money to help fund programs similar to the ones at Courage Center.
“Adaptive sporting equipment is very expensive,” he explained. “Courage Center knows all about equipment, and it’s extremely helpful having that link. It was at Courage Center that I met and made friends who also have disabilities, and I learned quickly that we can lead active and fun lives.
“Courage Center provides the conduit for my sports activities, and those activities are my life. They have helped me heal and excel at life.”