Once overwhelmed, now a mentor at the National Veterans Wheelchair Games

Orlando Perez was rappelling down a climbing wall during PT when he lost his grip, fell, and struck his spine on his rucksack. Weeks later, after he kept stumbling during runs, he sought medical attention. The fall caused a tumor to develop on his spinal cord, and the surgery to remove it left him unable to walk.

Three years later, paralyzed from the waist down and depressed, Perez found hope. He wasn’t looking for yet another therapy program, but during an appointment at the San Juan VA Medical Center, his family noticed a poster for the National Veterans Wheelchair Games. His wife and his mother encouraged him to give it a chance.

“I’ll go, but if I don’t like it, I’m just going to leave,” he told them.

No pity party

Perez went to his first Wheelchair Games, but he was soon overwhelmed while watching a wheelchair basketball practice.

“There was no pity party. They were crashing chairs, they were talking smack to each other… they were playing so well,” he remembered, wondering whether he had it in himself to participate. Later that day, though, he looked down into his hotel’s courtyard.

“All you could see were wheelchair users hugging each other, smiling. I looked down at a sea of love,” he shared.

Family at the finish

It didn’t take long for Perez to shine, and not just in wheelchair basketball. He came away from those first games with a gold medal in the 100-meter race and in powerlifting, and scored three bronze medals in 3-on-3 basketball, javelin and pickleball.

When he crossed the finish line first in the 100-meter race, his family was right there to hug him.

New possibilities

It’s been almost three decades since those first games. Today, Perez is a fixture on Puerto Rico’s national wheelchair basketball team, and he has competed in two Paralympic Winter Games as an adaptive skier.

He credits recreation therapists and other providers from VA Augusta and VA Salt Lake City for their roles in his success, helping him pursue adaptive skiing through access to equipment, training and camps, and attending his races, even after work hours.

“They would literally show up and say, ‘Hey, do you need anything? Let me know!’” he said, noting that the Games wouldn’t be possible without all the caregivers, volunteers and VA recreation therapists who encourage Veterans like him every step of the way.

Mentoring new athletes

Now, Perez is more than just a participant—he’s also a mentor to other Veteran athletes. Army Veteran Centra “CeCe” Mazyck is one of them, and was this year’s recipient of the Spirit of the Games Award. She received the peer-nominated honor for exceptional leadership, commitment and encouragement of other Veteran athletes. She credits Perez, who received the same award in 2005, as her inspiration and supporter.

People sometimes ask Perez whether he would trade everything to walk again. He doesn’t hesitate with his answer.

“I love my life, and I love all my accomplished friends. My journey… it’s just been so amazing.”