I wrote a book, The gift of Life. In it I go into more detail as to why I have C.P.
A mistake at birth left me with Cerebral Palsy. When I was born, the doctor that was on duty that night didn’t follow the x-rays that were in my mother’s file. He went ahead and did the procedure his own way. Instead of delivering me by C-Section, he pulled me with forceps, tossed me in one of those baskets and left me on the floor, not breathing, while he tried to stop my mother from bleeding. During the time I spent without oxygen, I developed Cerebral Palsy I’ve never said this before, but my accident’ was attempted murder.
In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, there was a team of doctors in Colorado Springs who didn’t like minorities; Black, Hispanic, Asian and so on. When a woman of any of these nationalities came in for a check up, or to see if she was pregnant, they wouldn’t tell her. Instead, they would abort the baby without the mother knowing and finish by giving the woman a hysterectomy to end people of color or mixed race being born.
Countless women have come up to my father with their story of what these doctors did to them. One said the doctor told her, “Your kind have too many children, anyway.”
After my birth, the doctors said to put me in a institution where I could die and they wouldn’t be bothered with what they did to my mom and me. My parents did what many didn’t, they took me home and raised me with help from my grandma; without them and faith, I wouldn’t be.
I started therapy when I was one and a half years old; trunk, abs, legs and neck, just so I could hold my head up and crawl.
I grew up with 80’s movies; Conan, Rocky, Rambo, Arnold, etc. And every time I’d watch one, I’d think to myself, “That’s so cool, I want to look like that.” When I was around six years old there was a TV show called, The Incredible Hulk. I used to watch it every week, and I found out that the actor who played the hulk had a handicap, so I figured if he could get that big, I could too! He’s deaf, but I thought he use to be disabled as I was.
When I was 11, I saw Conan the Barbarian on its opening day, and after that I always wanted to be a bodybuilder. I would go hit the weights after watching a movie. Also, in the 80’s, there were shows about the future, like “In 1988 World War three will begin and people will start eating each other,” movies. “Red Dawn” and “Road Warrior” to name a few. I had the thought that I didn’t want to be left behind, so I worked out. My junior high had a weight room, there, I did leg presses and curls. I also bought muscle magazines and took weight gainers, Joe Weider tablets.
My brothers owned Tak Kwon Do studios and every time they closed one I’d get the weights, rusty Weider plates, ankle weights and dumb bells. Not until 1984 did I really start wanting to get big. I had a huge setback with my hip surgery in 1986; I had to start over. As soon as I was out of the cast, I went into a K-Mart, I bought more ankle weights and wore them on my wrist throughout the summer of 1986.
In high school, working out made me feel better and stronger. The high school had a weight room and my uncle owned a gym, so I worked out in both places throughout the rest of the 80’s. My teachers and physical therapists had a conference at the end of my ninth grade, I guess to see how I was doing in a main stream school/classes. My old therapists said it was a bad idea for me to work out, that it would do something to my Cerebral Palsy. She had no idea what she was talking about. Studies now show that working out improves Cerebral Palsy.
At first, I thought maybe wheelchair Olympics might have something, then in the mid ?90’s, I was reading Muscle Mag. There was a story of a disabled person looking to compete in bodybuilding. I saw this picture of a guy from India; he was obviously handicapped, but ripped. He was asking where he could compete. The writer told him to contact Frank Dalto. I did the same, and after seven years, I competed.
I was looking at shows and competitions in 2004 and saw the New Orleans one in July, it was March, and in my mind, I saw a road with a fork in it; one way to compete, the other not to. Once I chose to compete, I stuck to it, no quitting. I tried to learn something new at every show, diet, posing, anything I could pick up.
One of the main things I try to do, is open doors for many other disabled people. Whether this is just by e-mailing them back, or showing them how to get into bodybuilding and making wheelchair bodybuilding bigger and better, whatever I can do to help someone better their lives. For me it is getting bigger and better every year, we need to make the sport grow…
I got married and had two sons and spend all of my time with them. My dad came down with Cancer.
On April 30, 2014, we went to pick up a free swing set that was on Craig’s list, we pulled up to it and that’s the last I remember, next thing I knew I was in the E.R. seems that I have a hiatal hernia, that lets gas up into my air way, my wife came back to the van and found me not breathing, she called 911. The paramedics dropped me when they were taking me out of the van, they didn’t use straps to lower me out of the van like they were supposed to then one of the grabbed my arms and jerked me onto the gurney, in this process my back and neck got injured. My back has been in pain like you won’t believe, I never had it hurt like this and it is like having the meat pulled off my bones. Before this I had no back pain.
I had an MRI and my T6, T5 of my spine has been compressed and fractured, marrow leakage, this is defiantly from the paramedic dropping me. This pinching nerves causing pain in my arms and legs. Even now I can’t do nearly what I did before April of 2014. I’m taking pain medication. I can’t help myself in the bathroom like I did before. My upper back hurts bad. I have doctors confirming my injuries are from the paramedic dropping me.
This year the same MRI showed my spinal cord was pinched in my neck. For 3 years the doctors never told me. I’m in serous pain.
June, 2017, I had neck surgery, it’s taking a long time for me to recover, right before my accident I was weighing 180 pounds and doing very well in the gym.
I love my family very much, they mean the world to me, but I lost my happiness of training, my dad.
Also the city sent a nurse to my house, she told me to see my doctor and that my arm was swollen and to get shots. After every shot I got worst, until I got to the point I could not raise my arms or stand.
A mistake at birth left me with Cerebral Palsy. When I was born, the doctor that was on duty that night didn't follow the x-rays that were in my mother's file. He went ahead and did the procedure his own way. Instead of delivering me by C-Section, he pulled me with forceps, tossed me in one of those baskets and left me on the floor, not breathing, while he tried to stop my mother from bleeding. During the time I spent without oxygen, I developed Cerebral Palsy. I've never said this before, but my ? accident' was attempted murder.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, there was a team of doctors in Colorado Springs who didn't like minorities; Black, Hispanic, Asian and so on. When a woman of any of these nationalities came in for a check up, or to see if she was pregnant, they wouldn't tell her. Instead, they would abort the baby without the mother knowing and finish by giving the woman a hysterectomy to end people of color or mixed race being born.
Countless women have come up to my father with their story of what these doctors did to them. One said the doctor told her, "Your kind have too many children, anyway."
After my birth, the doctors said to put me in a institution where I could die and they wouldn't be bothered with what they did to my mom and me. My parents did what many didn't, they took me home and raised me with help from my grandma; without them and faith, I wouldn't be.
I started therapy when I was one and a half years old; trunk, abs, legs and neck, just so I could hold my head up and crawl.
I grew up with 80's movies; Conan, Rocky, Rambo, Arnold, etc. And every time I'd watch one, I'd think to myself, "That's so cool, I want to look like that." When I was around six years old there was a TV show called, The Incredible Hulk. I used to watch it every week, and I found out that the actor who played the hulk had a handicap, so I figured if he could get that big, I could too! He's deaf, but I thought he use to be disabled as I was.
When I was 11, I saw Conan the Barbarian on its opening day, and after that I always wanted to be a bodybuilder. I would go hit the weights after watching a movie. Also, in the 80's, there were shows about the future, like "In 1988 World War three will begin and people will start eating each other," movies. "Red Dawn" and "Road Warrior" to name a few. I had the thought that I didn't want to be left behind, so I worked out. My junior high had a weight room, there, I did leg presses and curls. I also bought muscle magazines and took weight gainers, Joe Weider tablets.
My brothers owned Tak Kwon Do studios and every time they closed one I'd get the weights, rusty Weider plates, ankle weights and dumb bells. Not until 1984 did I really start wanting to get big. I had a huge setback with my hip surgery in 1986; I had to start over. As soon as I was out of the cast, I went into a K-Mart, I bought more ankle weights and wore them on my wrist throughout the summer of 1986.
In high school, working out made me feel better and stronger. The high school had a weight room and my uncle owned a gym, so I worked out in both places throughout the rest of the 80's. My teachers and physical therapists had a conference at the end of my ninth grade, I guess to see how I was doing in a main stream school/classes. My old therapists said it was a bad idea for me to work out, that it would do something to my Cerebral Palsy. She had no idea what she was talking about. Studies now show that working out improves Cerebral Palsy.
At first, I thought maybe wheelchair Olympics might have something, then in the mid 90's, I was reading Muscle Mag. There was a story of a disabled person looking to compete in bodybuilding. I saw this picture of a guy from India; he was obviously handicapped, but ripped. He was asking where he could compete. The writer told him to contact Frank Dalto. I did the same, and after seven years, I competed.
I was looking at shows and competitions in 2004 and saw the New Orleans one in July, it was March, and in my mind, I saw a road with a fork in it; one way to compete, the other not to. Once I chose to compete, I stuck to it, no quitting. I tried to learn something new at every show, diet, posing, anything I could pick up.
I never got a pro card and that’s why I love wheelchair bodybuilding, it’s something that has to be earned, we all don’t get the same award.
One of the main things I try to do is open doors for many other disabled people. Whether this is just by e-mailing them back, or showing them how to get into bodybuilding and making wheelchair bodybuilding bigger and better, whatever I can do to help someone better their lives. Lastly, for me it is getting bigger and better every year, we need to make the sport grow.
Also, there’s a NPC Bodybuilding contest in Denver called The Rocky, I always tried to show for it so that the wheelchair class would stay in the show.
Wake up early every day.
Keep your teeth clean.
Eat every two hours.
Rest for 30 seconds between sets. Get out of the gym within 45 minutes to a hour.
The same applies to cardio.
Never think you know it all; learn, learn, learn, do new things.
Listen to people who you want to look like, not the neighbors girl.
Work hard to make gains and stop hating ones who do.
Don’t Over train, it’s bad for you, I did and got big like I wanted, but now I can’t workout at all, you have to think of the long run and just think of what you want now.
• Amateur Contest History
2013 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 1st Place
2013 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 2nd Place
2013 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 2nd Place
2012 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 1st Place
2012 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 2nd Place
2010 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 3rd Place
2009 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 2nd Place
2008 NPC Rocky Mountain Championship : 1st Place
2008 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 1st Place
2008 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 2nd Place
2008 Steel City Show : 2nd Place
2008 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 1st Place
2007 NPC USA Wheelchair Championship : 2nd Place
2007 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 3rd Place
2006 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 1st Place
2005 NPC Rocky Mountain Championship : 3rd Place
2005 NPC Wheelchair Nationals : 2nd Place
2004 NPC Rocky Mountain Championship : 1st Place
