Track and Field
Hi, my name is Ceci. I’ve been a part of One Chair at a Time for about 3 years now. I have spastic cerebral palsy which basically, means I don’t have complete control of my legs. With my disability, I have to adapt to the things around me to make it so that I can do things other kids do, but with a few tweaks. For example, sports! Believe it or not, there are just very few adaptive sport organizations in Texas. When my mom found One Chair at a Time, she and I were over the moon excited. I had no idea what adapted sports was or even what it meant.
Then I met my coach Joe Chris. Little by little, he introduced me to the adaptive sports world. It was a world I never even knew existed, and quite frankly, I thought it was amazing! For once I wasn’t the “different kid”. People didn’t see my disability, they saw ME. Joe Chris introduced me to wheelchair racing and shotput, and a few months later, I got my very own racer!
Shortly upon receiving my racer, my whole world got turned upside down, and I became very ill with a chronic illness called Gastroparesis. I went from an average 14-year-old who loved life, to having to rely on tubal feeding for nutrition. During this time, I had to put sports on hold to deal with my health, and my coach was there to cheer me up when I was down and would constantly check in on me. He even made a surprise visit for my birthday. Despite the hardships and struggles I had to endure, I made it through 2016, and am now stronger than I have ever been. In 2017 I got to experience my very first Paralympics. I competed in the 25-meter sprint, shotput, and my favorite, the 25-meter freestyle in swimming.
I’ve always loved swimming since I was little. But it wasn’t until I got to experience the Endeavor Games, that I realized Paralympic swimming could become something more than a hobby for me. After the Endeavor Games, I decided to get serious about my swimming. Not because I want to become the greatest swimmer ever or anything like that, I’m doing it because I love to swim!
This year, I plan to go with One Chair to the Texas Regional games in San Antonio. where I will be competing in wheelchair racing and swimming. My dream is to one day qualify for nationals. It’s a big dream in the works that I hope one day will come true.
Among other things, there are 2 other sports that I have become very fond of. One of them being wheelchair basketball. The chairs that the athletes use, are so much fun to ride in, and you can go so fast! While wheelchair basketball can be challenging, I think the challenges are worth it. And secondly, I recently got introduced to a hand cycle. A hand cycle is basically like a bicycle, but instead of using your feet to create momentum, you use your hands. Every time I get in my hand cycle, I can’t help but smile to myself because I enjoy it so much.
One chair has changed my outlook on life and has given me confidence as well. I’ve had bad days, but the thing is Everyone has bad days. Believe me, I’ve been there. But the bad days aren’t what’s important. What’s important is what you do after. You have the power of using your struggles to tell your story. Everyone’s story is unique and one of a kind. This, is my story, and it’s not over yet.
