Mike Savicki - Wheelchair Athlete, Advocate, Entrepreneur

2012 and Beyond

2006-2011

My Blog

Mike Savicki

Spring 2013 -

What comes to mind when you hear the word "mobility?" My first thoughts are about moving and getting from place to place. By car. By foot. I'm guessing you were thinking of something similar, too. The definition, as well as the action, seems pretty simple and straightforward, doesn't it? No big deal, right? Mobility. Move. Get around. Well, think about this. What if your ability to be "mobile" became limited. For a week, month or year. Or maybe for a lifetime. If you have ever had to use crutches then you know what I mean. Ditto for having had to use a wheelchair after a surgery perhaps. That's the closest most people come. It certainly makes life, well, inconvenient. What if this were a permanent thing? What would you do? How might you get through your day? Think about all the changes you'd have to make. May is National Mobility Awareness Month and an organization that helps folks with mobility impairments (like my spinal cord injury) find driving solutions is working hard to raise awareness and help people with mobility challenges get more active and get back into life. They are a trade group called the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA), they are a great collection of dedicated and caring providers and I'm helping to spread their message. So check out Mobility Awareness Month if you have a few minutes. Vote for a Local Hero to win a new, fully accessible Toyota, Honda or Chrysler van. Help change a life. And while you are at it, think about how your day might be different if you lived with a mobility challenge.

Peace,

Mike

Video at right by Gravity Boston

****************

What is possible? It’s hard to say. Man has stood on the top of the world, gone under 9:25 at the Hawaii Ironman, climbed El Capitan, paddled Alaska’s Inside Passage, swum across the English Channel, completed the Boston Marathon in under 1:18:30, rowed across both the Atlantic and the Pacific and cycled around the world. Oh yeah, did I mention that these accomplishments were completed by men (and women) who are disabled? Think about it. Now catch your breath.

Life is about more than accomplishing extraordinary things. It's about living, loving, learning, listening, sharing, communicating, creating, taking chances and making the best of whatever comes your way. It's about finding yourself and creating yourself. Life is what happens when you follow your heart and go after your dreams. How do you feel right now? Life is how you choose to live every day.

Welcome to a site about possibility, living out loud and overcoming adversity. You might find a little inspiration in here, too. I guess it comes with the territory. By sharing my successes and failures, I hope to help redefine convention and shift the paradigm. Perhaps you will leave here with just a bit more motivation to make your own goals and dreams come true. At the very least, I hope you question the definition of “disability” and think about the indomitability of the human spirit. This site is about me. I’m trying to do my part. Are you?

Mike Savicki – C6, 7 quadriplegic – Athlete, advocate, entrepreneur
● Founder and Chief Thinker, Scratching Post Communications, Inc.

● 2012 and 2013 Spokesperson for National Mobility Awareness Month (presented by NMEDA)

● Facilitator of the Cornelius Business Factory

● Recipient of the 2011 Tufts University Athletics Distinguished Achievement Award

● Finisher of over 75 national and international marathons and half marathons

● Winner - 2005, 2007 - 2010 BAA Boston Marathon Quad Wheelchair Division (18 time finisher)
● Only person to ever finish the BAA Boston Marathon both on foot and in a wheelchair

● US Navy team member and Bronze medalist, Inaugural 2010 Warrior Games
● Featured nationally on a limited edition Cheerios box in 2009 honoring disabled veterans in sports
● 2009 Beach to Battleship Half Ironman - 2nd place PC athlete (first complete quad ever to finish the distance)
● Overall wheelchair winner – 1994, 2003-2007, 2009 Jacksonville Marathon (9 time finisher)
● National Veterans Wheelchair Games – 73 gold medals (1991-2012)
● Winner – 2004, 2006 Myrtle Beach Marathon (5 time finisher)
● Member of US Paralympics Quad Rugby High Performance Training Program (2001-2003)
● 1st American to finish a marathon in the new millennium (Millennium Marathon, New Zealand, 1/1/00)
● Organizer, Face of America. Cross country cycling journey to celebrate America’s diversity in 2000
● Tufts University 2000 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient - Global Games: Sports, Politics and Society
● United States Handcycling Federation 1999 National Criterium Champion – Quad Division
● Organizer/participant, Vietnam Challenge. 1,200 mile cycling journey from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, 1998
● Co-founder of the USQRA Carolina Crash wheelchair rugby team in 1996
● Overall wheelchair winner – 1996 Hawaii Windward Half Marathon, Kailua, Hawaii
● North Carolina Wheelchair Athlete’s Foundation 1994 Athlete of the Year

● MBA Class of 1994, Duke University's Fuqua School of Business (2nd student in a wheelchair to graduate)

● BA degree, Tufts University, Class of 1990

● Massachusetts Institute of Technology NROTC Class of 1990 Distinguished Naval Aviation Candidate

● College and semi-pro soccer player (Tufts Univ. and Cape Cod Amateur Soccer League), 1987 - 1989

● US Navy veteran and life member of the Paralyzed Veterans of America

● Life member National Eagle Scout Association

● Former Director of No Barriers USA (2007-2011)

● Former Deputy Executive Director, World T.E.A.M. Sports (1997-2000)

● Former Senior Consultant, Public Consulting Group (1994 - 1997)

● Triathlete, skier, sailor, golfer, writer, photographer, aspiring drummer

“There are three things you should always know about yourself – where you started, where you are and where you want to be. Have a goal and have a dream.”
– Jim Valvano