After the fall, Army Veteran rises
In recognition of the National Veteran Wheelchair Games, Fayetteville NC VA Coastal Health Care System will profile several of the four Southeastern North Carolina Veteran athletes competing in the games from July 7-12.
We wish Charles Bradley, Ace Cruz, Ron Richardson, Freddie Smith, and the more than 500 Veteran athletes a great games. Play On!
After the fall, Army Veteran rises
A balcony fall broke Charles Bradley’s neck nearly 35 years ago. It didn’t break his spirit.
“I look back over the time I’ve been in this wheelchair and overall, I can say things are turning out okay,” he said.
Bradley was an Army sergeant stationed in Germany when the accident occurred. The prognosis—paralysis. He would most likely never walk again.
“The recovery was not easy. Man, I mean it was rough but they took good care of me.” The “they” to whom Bradley refers is the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, VA, where he spent months prior to returning to home to North Carolina. McGuire is home to one of VA’s Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers, which provide acute, comprehensive, inpatient rehabilitation.
“Richmond was incredible. Everyone was treated like we weren’t in wheelchairs. The therapists set expectations. After all, the goal was for us to be as independent as possible,” he said.
Bradley recalls an interaction with his therapist near the end of his recovery. “My therapist noticed I was just sitting in my chair, not doing my exercises. I just looked at her and a tear dropped from my eye. I don’t know why. She said, ‘I was waiting on this’, and I asked what she meant. She told me I was ‘too’ happy. I was going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life and I guess I was taking it all in stride,” Bradley recounted.
“I told her to let me sit out in the sun today. Tomorrow I promise I will come back and be ready.”
As he sat out in the sun, Bradley said he just watched people come in out of the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center. All of them in wheelchairs. “I said to myself this is life. And from that day to now—I have never been the same.”
A new passion and purpose
Bradley, an athlete during his teen years, turned his attention the National Veterans Wheelchair Games at the encouragement of his wife, an Army Veteran and a former Paralyzed Veterans of America employee.
“She got me interested in the games, and I am glad she did,” he said. Bradley said he first attended the games in San Diego in 1997, and he and his wife have been to about 20 games.
The 64-year-old has participated and earned medals in several sports to include bowling and shalom. But he says his favorite and his best sport is boccia ball. The sport was originally designed to played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with injuries or illnesses affecting motor skills.
“I am pretty good at boccia ball,” Bradley said with a smile. Then came a moment of humility. “I am competitive but, you know, it’s not always about that,” he said. “The games are so much more. The camaraderie is incredible. As military Veterans we care for each other.
“I remember meeting this WWII Veteran at the games and he bought me to tears, Bradley added. “Here is this older guy, doing all he can to participate. We are cheering and he comes alive. That is what these games mean.”