Mildenhall Airmen sponsor Paralympians

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Neal Joiner
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Several Airmen and their families from RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath recently sponsored Paralympic athletes from the U.S. Paralympic Team while they were staying in the local area prior to competing in the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

The athletes arrived at RAF Lakenheath on the weekend of Aug. 11 to 12 and trained at the base until they departed two weeks later to participate in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, which began Aug. 29. Volunteer families from both bases showed the athletes around and spent time with them in-between the athletes' training schedules, during the weeks leading up to the games.

Jarryd Wallace, a track and field competitor who competes in the T44-class sports disability category (single lower limb impairment), began spending time with Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Powell, 100th Air Refueling Wing command chief, and his wife Sharon Aug. 18 and found a bit of home away from home in the Powell residence. But the road that led him to the Paralympics, and to the Powell home, wasn't easy.

"We met with Jarryd Saturday morning after his arrival from the U.S." said Powell, on sponsoring an athlete, "(Having Jarryd with us has) been awesome! Our family has grown again."

Wallace comes from an athletic family and was a competitive runner throughout his teen years, but he began experiencing pain in his lower right leg.

Eventually, Wallace was diagnosed with compartment syndrome, a disease that causes the compression of nerves, blood vessels and muscle in an area of the body, usually in the forearm or lower leg. The condition was severe enough to require surgery.

When the surgery did not go well, and Wallace was barely walking, let alone running, he was faced with a decision.

"When I lost my leg, I made the decision to amputate and after researching my options, I decided that if I did get it cut off then my first goal was to get in the Paralympics," said Wallace.

About two years later, Wallace had not only rehabilitated from the amputation, but he had met his goal of qualifying for the games and had taken home the gold medal in the T44-class 100-meter dash during the ParaPan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

For Wallace, setting and meeting goals has been paramount to his success and can-do attitude.

"If you don't set a goal then you're not going anywhere," said Wallace.

For the Powell family, the goal has been to make Wallace feel welcome and comfortable between training sessions, and the Powells were successful.

"We have to train but at the same time it's nice to relax and just be normal," said Wallace. "(The Powells) have taken us places and it's been a great experience inside another great experience. It's been amazing, a real blessing."

The Powells feel equally honored to have had the chance to spend time with Wallace and have found, according to the command chief, "a great new friend."

"There is no doubt this relationship will last a lifetime," he said.

As Wallace continues his path to the Paralympic Games with hopes of earning gold he can be assured that at least two more fans will be cheering him on.

The Paralympic Games, the brainchild of Sir Ludwig Guttmann, began in 1948 as the Stoke Mandeville Games in England with the goal of providing therapy through competitive sport for British World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries. Guttmann's games eventually evolved to include international athletes and became the international equivalent of the Olympic Games themselves when, in 1960, they were held alongside the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome. In 1976, the Paralympics further expanded to include athletes with different disabilities and became the games that we know today.