SAN ANTONIO -- A group of wounded soldiers from San Antonio is heading to Kentucky later this month for a wheelchair basketball tournament. On Thursday, they hit the gym to practice and show off their skills.
Playing basketball from a wheelchair isn’t easy. The men and women who make up the Warriors basketball team have to power the wheelchair, steer it, dribble the ball, pass and shoot at a regulation goal -- all from a sitting position.
It’s part therapy, part camaraderie for these soldiers, airmen and Marines representing the Center for the Intrepid.
Sgt. Robert Samuel lost his lower left leg in an IED blast in Afghanistan.
“Once the injury happened, like I didn’t know what to expect because I thought my life was really just stopped right there,” Samuel said.
His life didn’t stop, nor that of the other amputees who play the game with zeal.
Sgt. Angelica Lopez suffers from post traumatic stress disorder after sexual abuse while in the service. She is able-bodied, but takes to the wheelchair to interact with men in a positive way.
“I have a big trust issue, especially with men and socializing, and ever since I joined the team I’ve built strong bonds with most of the guys here,” Lopez said.
For this team, playing the game is one small step on a long road to recovery.
“You know, a lot of guys, they get down on themselves because they feel like they’re not complete,” Samuel explained. “But they build you up and build that confidence up in you, make you walk out of there like really like what you are, a warrior, at the end of the day.”
The wheelchair basketball team that trains at Fort Sam Houston heads to Kentucky late this month for a tournament. They’ll be taking on teams from other Warrior Transition Units.
