WATCH LIVE
The Army veteran was paralyzed after a sniper shot him dead in Iraq. But despite being confined to a wheelchair, he discovers a new goal in the race, and he’s also helping other disabled veterans get behind the wheel!
ANGLETON, Texas (AP) — Dillon Cannon may be confined to a wheelchair, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a racing hobby.
In 2006, Cannon, an Army specialist serving in Baqubah, Iraq. During a patrol, his unit discovered a possible improvised explosive device (IED) at a checkpoint. Then, his life was replaced forever.
“I shot in the neck through a sniper,” Cannon said. “The bullet came in from the front of my throat and out the back. Every time it entered my body, it didn’t reach all my arteries, touched my C6 and C7 vertebrae, broke both vertebrae, and bone fragments hit my spinal cord and caused it to swell, leaving me paralyzed from the middle of my chest down. “
Cannon then spent months recovering at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D. C. But the transition from being healthy to being paralyzed was difficult, and for about a decade, Cannon didn’t work out.
“Struggling with depression and trying to stay active a little bit,” Cannon said. “I looked for a purpose, I looked for a reader, so I contacted the VA and said, hey, I need to paint again. “
Through Houston VA, Cannon joined Motor Speedway Resort Houston, a leading racetrack in Angleton, Texas. He was assigned a job as a portion manager, but asked if he wanted to know how to run. At first, he didn’t know if it was imaginable – until he got behind the wheel employing manual controls.
“One way to describe how you feel on the race track is that 90% of your daily life is spent in a wheelchair. So every time you can get out of that wheelchair, you feel like you’re regaining independence,” Cannon said. You don’t feel like you’re in a wheelchair. You feel normal. “
Cannon worked with MSR Houston to create a nonprofit called Hands On Driving Academy, which helps disabled veterans stay informed about how to drive race cars with manual controls and download their SCCA license.
“So vets can get back into that position and be disconnected from the rest of the world, they put on their helmets, now they’re someone else, it gives them a place,” said Jim Berg, MSR Houston store manager. .
For Cannon, helping other disabled veterans get the adventure behind the wheel is even more rewarding than hitting the track himself.
“I’ve found that since I’ve been in a wheelchair, I love my story to help motivate other veterans to stay independent and see that they can still have a general lifestyle, they’re just going to want a little help. “Cannon said. .
For more information, visit handsondrivingacademy. org.
Gang leader discovered for 6 murders on trial in Chicago
28 livres. de cocaine on the wheels of a traveler’s wheelchair at the airport
Illinois Voters Approve Labor Rights Amendment