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Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — Ever since he was a child, Jasmin Bambur dreamed of going to the Olympics. In college, he played competitive handball and was close to making the national team that would take him to the big games.

But Bambur’s life took an unexpected turn one winter night 10 years ago, when he fell asleep at the wheel of his car. He suffered a severe spinal cord injury, making him a paraplegic at age 20.

“With this accident, that dream just got crushed, and I never believed that I would be able to get to Olympics again,” said Bambur, a native of Serbia.

This week, Bambur has become the first Serbian to compete in the Paralympic Games, a set of elite sporting events for disabled athletes that lasts from March 12 to March 21. The competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, includes skiing, wheelchair curling and ice sledge hockey. Bambur is competing for the Serbian Disabled Ski Team in a number of Alpine racing events.

Watching the Paralympics on television or on the Internet helps show newly disabled people that they have the potential to become active again in a variety of recreational activities, said Dan Humphreys, sports specialist at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, the hospital where Bambur underwent rehabilitation for his injury.

The Paralympics are “examples of the pinnacle of athletic achievement for people with physical disabilities,” he said.

Jasmin Bambur, injured in 2000, skis competitively. He is participating in the 2010 Paralympic Games.

“What I try to do is show them, try to get them in the mindset of thinking of what’s possible, not what can’t happen,” he said. “A lot of things that inpatients deal with is, immediately they start to think [about] what they’re not going to be able to do.”

Bambur remembers feeling depressed during his first months at the Shepherd Center, which specializes in treatment, research and rehabilitation for spinal cord and brain injuries. Therapists explained that he would be able to play sports, but he didn’t believe them.

“I just told them: ‘Leave me alone. I just want to not be a part of anything,” he said. “I was just kind of avoiding everybody, didn’t want to do anything, didn’t talk much. I was kind of always in pain. It was a really horrible time in my life.”

His view brightened when a therapist brought a photo album of herself with her husband, who was in a wheelchair, doing everything from riding camels to skiing.

Bambur didn’t think much of it until the following week, when the man from the photos, a Paralympic gold medalist, came to meet him. Bambur realized that this man’s disability was more severe than his own but that the medalist was “having a ball.”

“I was like, ‘if he can do it, I can do 10 times better,’ ” he said. “Next morning, I was like, ‘I want to go to the gym. I want to go outside and do whatever it takes.’ ”

The Shepherd Center sponsors 11 sports teams that allow people with disabilities to engage in activities recreationally or competitively. There’s usually some type of adaptive equipment involved, such as a special wheelchair for basketball or a chair that attaches to skis.

The cost of the extra equipment can be prohibitive, Humphreys said, with specialized chairs costing thousands of dollars. But the center and other organizations raise money for such equipment.

Ryan Barnett, who was a professional cyclist before an injury left him paralyzed in May 2008, turned to skiing as his sport of choice after coming to the Shepherd Center. He hopes to go to the Paralympics one day and currently skis with the U.S. ski team’s developmental team.

Being back in elite athletics has also allowed him to develop everyday skills in terms of navigating the world in a wheelchair as he travels to competitions. He has enjoyed meeting others who have been competitive athletes in wheelchairs for decades and learning from their experiences.

Unlike Bambur, Barnett said he did not feel frustrated or depressed after his accident — he was hit by a car while cycling — mostly because he felt so lucky to be alive. For the first part of his recovery, he did not think about athletics, but when he and his wife went to watch Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race, she suggested that he might like to try wheelchair racing. He now races and skis.

“Life rolls on,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that you’re in a wheelchair. It’s really important to stay active.”

Like Barnett, Bambur had tried skiing before his injury but never practiced it professionally until after he became disabled. Nearly 10 months after he was hurt, Bambur went on a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado, through the Shepherd Center. It became the start of his skiing career.

“I immediately fell in love with skiing because there were no more wheelchairs, and I was completely free, and I was able to do everything I was doing before. You can jump; you can stop; you don’t need help from other people,” he said.

Bambur does not find skiing as a disabled person much different than regular skiing. Able-bodied skiers must adapt themselves to their equipment and environment, he said.

“I just adapt myself further to accommodate myself to be able to ski again,” he said.

Barnett, though, doesn’t feel like he’s getting as much satisfaction out of athletics these days as he did as a cyclist, partly because he had cycled at such a high level, was more recently injured than other competitive athletes and has high expectations for himself.

“It certainly gives me a lot to shoot for,” he said. “It’s been real fun to see my times get better and better, and certainly my racing has come a long way in the past six months. I’d like to get to the top. It’d be fun to go race all of the biggest marathons in the world.”

Since he met the Paralympic medalist from the photos, Bambur felt able to jump back into normal life.

“I went back to school, graduated from college, got a job, married. I have a baby on the way right now,” he said. “Life is still possible; it’s just what you make out of it. It’s not what’s thrown at you.”

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/16/paralympics.wheelchair.sports.disability/index.html?hpt=C2

ChelusForLife:SinceEverSince

Vinnie Peredo:Cant believe itChelu.We got you covered on this side. Will be here for your family always to help you RestInPeace. Will never forget you.Honor.

FokaiFamilia:RestInPeaceShooto-Kun

Dear God,
Thank you for putting Shooto in my life.
The 15 years together were so

memorable although it went by so fast? we have many unforaetable memories.
Please take good care of him in heaven and tell him that I miss him dearly.
Oh?one more thing?be careful

Zoe and Shooto fight.
Amen.

EnsonInoue

ONRA:TheFlyingCockoroachSpeaketh

ustis F. “Cuki” Alvarez
PRESIDENT/PROMOTER

Ireland:God’sCountry

FokaiSaipan:TrenchTechAndThFightForPeace

— On Wed, 3/3/10, trenchwarriorsaipan@yahoo.com <trenchwarriorsaipan@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: trenchwarriorsaipan@yahoo.com <trenchwarriorsaipan@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Fwd: School Violence and KSPN’s Responsibility To Stop It!
To: “Bob Coldeen” <coldeen@gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 6:49 PM

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the mail. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I’ve learned to respect everyone’s opinion. At the same time, I’ve also learned that there will always be a group of people that fully oppose certain activities- in our case, MMA.

I could easily have a number of teachers and members of our community write up testimonials on how MMA has in fact deterred many from doing what this lady is saying. All it will lead to is a game of tug of war between 2 groups who believe in what they believe.

We’ve been through this many times. I truly feel that they (non supporters) are simply uneducated in the whole MMA scene. They call it barbaric when in fact statistically speaking, it is much safer than many other sports; boxing, and football as far as injuries are concerned.

In the past few years that we have been doing MMA in the CNMI, fighting in schools and in the streets have decreased significantly. Trench Tech has been to many elementary and Jr High schools and conducting anti bullying and educational speeches on this ever growing sport. It all comes down to how it is being conducted and handled and who conducts and handles it.

We (TT) have conducted 11 professional events- Trench Warz. And 12 amateur events- ROP and Art of War. Of these 23 events, how many serious injuries were reported? Absolutely NONE!

I will send you a poem after this for your reference. I had the privilege to reside this poem at KHS for their yearly Poetry Jam last week and received a standing ovation.

I say let the people talk and say all they want. This (MMA) will be scrutinized forever. Let it be known that we are not a bunch of barbaric, uneducated hooligans looking to cause destruction of lives and livelihood. We are a professional business entity that promotes MMA events ina a safe, controlled, and well conducted arena that 99.9% of the island enjoy. We truly create friendship through fighting and absolutely not the opposite.

Thanks Bob and I hope we do not put a stop to Sports Wrappers. EVER!

Did the lady who wrote this letter know that a bobsleder died in the winter Olympics?…

All the BEST! LONG LIVE THE ISLAND WARRIORS! LONG LIVE MMA!!!!!

Cuki

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Maria <mariamatson@rocketmail.com>
Date: Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 11:35 AM
Subject: School Violence and KSPN’s Responsibility To Stop It!
To: coldeen@gmail.com

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