KEARNEY, Mo. — On Friday, Ricardo Lucien faced the freshman gym class at Kearney Junior High School beside two of his colleagues from Midwest Adaptive Sports.
"I had to adapt to being in a wheelchair," Lucien told the class. "When I was 20, I was shot in my back."
The trio were at the school to achieve an educational goal: to open minds.
"We came to show them wheelchair basketball, and we want to raise awareness, not only about disabilities, but about what us as disabled athletes can do,” the Venezuela native said.
The idea to bring the wheelchair basketball experience to the class came from freshman Seth Cooper, who plays for Midwest Adaptive Sports on its Kansas City Kings wheelchair basketball team. Born with spina bifida, Seth has been using a wheelchair his whole life.
“I thought it was a brilliant idea to get some of the things that he’s done in his life into our PE program,” Kearney Junior High coach Brad Colhour said.
David Cooper, Seth's father, said that his son enjoys the sport and being part of a team.
"That’s what’s great about the sport and that’s what Seth really likes," David Cooper said. "He actually now has the opportunity to be part of a team where everybody’s on the same level."
Midwest Adaptive Sports encourages people with disabilities to participate in all kinds of sports, from skiing to baseball to rugby.
