MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – July is Disability Pride Month, and this weekend marked an opportunity for athletes of all ages and abilities to show off their skills on the water.
Before Saturday’s storms and despite the heat, the Missouri Disabled Water Ski Association hosted its annual summer splash event at Creve Coeur Lake.
“I used to do some skiing and a lot of sailing with a good friend of mine,” said Glenn Gilliam.
Gilliam has been in a wheelchair since his stroke in 2006. But thanks to dozens of volunteers out at the annual summer splash, he is able to water ski again.
“It helps with your attitude,” he explained. “You’re able to get out and do things that you weren’t sure you were going to be able to do. There’s more and more events like this coming up all the time. It really makes life a lot nicer.”
People were swimming, boating, jet-skiing, tubing and water-skiing with adaptive devices.
“It’s really a nice event,” Gilliam said. “They’re really, friendly, and they help you all the way through it, and it’s a great experience.”
Heather Pennington, the MDWSA program coordinator, said the event also helps build friendships.
“It’s like a family reunion to be honest with you,” said Pennington. “It’s like, ‘Glenn I haven’t seen you’ cause last year we had to cancel ’cause it was flooded. I haven’t seen Glenn in two years. But every year you see some of the same people coming back, and it’s so amazing to see them.”
People with blindness, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, autism, down-syndrome and other disabilities got to see and experience nothing but possibilities Friday and Saturday out at Creve Coeur Lake.
“I see my students from Lindenwood University, they’re studying recreation therapy,” Pennington said. “They’re getting to practice what they’re learning in the classroom in person, and they’re getting to apply what they’re learning and impact people’s lives. That’s really what it’s all about because my students get to impact people. And these people impact us as we are helping them.”