After losing both my legs in a train accident at the age of 21, I had a lot of uncertainty about my future. A man approached me about 6 months after my accident and asked me if I had ever heard of wheelchair basketball.  When he learned that I hadn’t heard of the sport, he told me when and where the local team practiced and encouraged me to join the team. At the time I wasn’t in the right mindset for his advice so I didn’t think too much about it and I never went to check out a practice. A couple of months later while out at a local restaurant I was approached yet again by another stranger who insisted I needed to try out wheelchair basketball. By this point, I had decided that I could use the exercise and I was ready for a new challenge in my life so I decided to go to a practice. I am so grateful that I did because I absolutely fell in love with the game of wheelchair basketball at the first practice I attended!

The game has opened up so many doors for me including offering me a college education while playing for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini and offering me opportunities to travel the world as a part of Team USA. I owe so much to this sport for making me the man I am today and I am very passionate about letting both young people and adults with a disability know about the opportunities that are out there both on and off the court. The “Ask Gavin” page is designed to be an open forum where you can ask questions about anything disability related. I would love to answer your questions about wheelchair basketball, sports in general, living life with a disability, or anything else you can think of to ask! The mission of “Ask Gavin” is to give people a place to ask and get answers to questions that people have about life with a disability. Disability doesn’t play favorites.  It can happen to anyone at anytime and for many of us

it can be a scary experience that we aren’t ready to handle. I’m happy to help you or someone you know adjust to his or her new life. For those of you that have been disabled for longer, I hope you ask questions of me as well but know you are also welcome to add your thoughts and opinions to the mix!