Local Veteran Competes in National Veterans Wheelchair Games

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       Anchorage, Alaska. -- July 5,2006 -- Timothy Kelly, a disabled Army veteran from South Hadley, Mass., is competing in the 26th National Veterans Wheelchair Games, being held through July 8 in Anchorage, Alaska. With more than 550 athletes from 46 states, Puerto Rico and Great Britain, this is the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world. All athletes are military veterans who use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, certain neurological conditions, orthopedic amputations or other disabilities. Kelly, 40, is a quadriplegic. He is currently receiving care at the VA medical facility in West Roxbury, Mass.

       Kelly is competing in the following events:

quad weightlifting
quad rugby
air guns (quad)
slalom (motorized, hand control)

       "This is my first time competing in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games," said Kelly, who is attending the Games with his father. "I have looked forward to testing myself in competition against my peers and learning a thing or two. I have always had an affinity for adventurous outdoors sports since my father was stationed at Ft. Wainwright in the early 1970s when I was a child. I was also stationed there, which is where I was injured in a motorcycle accident five years ago. I worked in the same aircraft hanger that my dad had years before. My father was planning to visit me there until my injury canceled those plans. When I learned that Anchorage was hosting the Wheelchair Games this year, our plans were back on." Kelly and his father drove all the way to Alaska to experience the Games.

       Athletes in the Games compete within three divisions -- Masters (over age 40), Novice (first-time competitors in the Games), and Open (all others, or those who chose to compete in this category). They also compete within classes according to the level of their physical ability, with three quadriplegic-level classes (IA, IB, and IC), and four paraplegic-level or amputee classes (II, III, IV, and V). Kelly competes as a Class IB in the Novice division.

       The Games are presented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), and are hosted this year by the Alaska VA Healthcare System and Regional Office and the Paralyzed Veterans of America Northwest Chapter. Funded with help from a host of corporations and service organizations, the National Veterans Wheelchair Games are a showcase for the benefit of sports rehabilitative programs, and the remarkable athletic abilities and personal achievements of our nation's disabled veterans.

Note to Editor:
If you would like to interview Kelly, contact Kim Byers, National Veterans Wheelchair Games Public Affairs Coordinator, at (734) 761-7824 after July 10. (Above information regarding military service and disability provided by veteran.)