Local Veteran Competes in National Veterans Wheelchair Games

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       Anchorage, Alaska. -- July 5,2006 -- David Fowler, a disabled Army veteran from Katy, Texas, 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. Fowler, 45, a combat veteran of Grenada, is a quadriplegic. He is currently receiving care at the VA medical facility in Houston, Texas.

       Fowler is competing in the following events:

slalom (motorized, mouth control)
power soccer (mouth control)
power chair 220 (mouth control)
Exhibition Event: power chair relay (mouth control)

       "I was encouraged to go to the Games in 1991 in Miami, and I've been hooked ever since," said Fowler. "I go not only for the competition against the other veterans in a wheelchair, but for the novices as well. Watching them compete for the first time is extremely rewarding." Back home, Fowler is the President of the Texas Chapter of PVA, based in Houston.

       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). Fowler competes as a Class IA in the Open 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 Fowler, he can be reached after July 10 at (281) 693-0004. For more information about the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, contact Kim Byers, NVWG Public Affairs Coordinator at (734) 761-7824. (Above information regarding military service and disability provided by veteran.)