This is sick, wheelchair in skatepark

[chriscut]

http://www.alligator.org/pt2/050407wheelchair.php

Daredevil rides against stereotypes
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ALSO WILL SPONSOR AN EVENT TONIGHT



By NEIL HUGHES
Alligator Writer
Nick West / Alligator Staff
Tyler Deith prepares to drop in from a skateboard ramp while in his wheelchair on campus Wednesday.

If anyone happens to see a man on a wheelchair hanging on to the back of a moving bus around Gainesville, don�t be alarmed.

He�s Canadian.

Tyler Deith and his �Team Tyler� made the trip to UF from Muskoka, Ontario for the Student Government Disability Affairs Cabinet�s �Building a Disability Movement� conference, taking place this week.

To promote the event, Deith rode the ramps at the Broward Skateboard Park on Wednesday afternoon, in an effort to show that �disabled� may be a misnomer.

Deith, 24, has been wheelchair-bound since a motorcycle accident infirmed him more than three years ago.

Since then, he has found alternative ways to get an adrenaline fix, including riding skateboard ramps on his Quickie R2 manual wheelchair.

�It�s just kind of a daydream I had one day,� Deith said.

�I just tried it out on a small ramp. I�ve crashed lots, but I�ve never let it let me down.�

Those crashes left him with serious injuries, including a broken arm and toe.

But none of that keeps Deith from some daring stunts, including hanging off the back of moving cars, also known as �skitching.�

�If there�s a minivan that can�t see behind it, I just sneak on and grab a free ride,� he said.

Deith�s adventures in skitching include an 80-kilometer-per-hour trip on the back of a friend�s car, as well as a ride on the back of a Regional Transit System bus.

�It�s cool,� he said of being carried along behind the bus through downtown Gainesville. �You can be retarded outside your hometown; it doesn�t matter.�

Deith can also do a spine transfer, a rock �n� roll and a nose manual � tricks difficult even for those who ride skateboards.

Deith and other speakers will be delivering a keynote address at �Building a Disability Movement� today at 7 p.m. in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.

Renowned sexologist Mitch Tepper, singer and former adult film star Bridget �the Midget� Powerz, syndicated talk show host Greg Smith and artist Sunny Taylor also will be speakers, according to a press release.

Conference chairwoman Bethany Stevens said Wednesday�s event with Deith was important because it showed the abilities of disabled people.

�Our desire is to start to break down the pervasive negative assumption that disabled people are asexual and challenge the social epidemic of fearing the failure to conform to normal notions of beauty,� Stevens said.

[chriscut]

Same guy as above:


Darwin Holmes:

[Slyder]

That's so great to see. I hate it when peole have an accident and get down on themselves. They're not stopped in any way and don't realize it. More people need a mindset like this guy, he's my new hero.

[Jesse]

My uncle knows this dude in Arizona that races wheelchairs, on the same course as downhill mountain bikes. All of these guys get mad respect from me

[ridehatzic]

I want to see vids