In 2013 , Paul Erway completed 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 weeks .
One of those was the Boston Marathon , the year of the bombing .
Notice that this writer didn ’ t say Erway “ runs ” in these marathons . Because he doesn ’ t . He wheels .
An automobile accident in 1980 , the weekend before he was to graduate from college , left him a paraplegic , with no feeling or movement from the chest down . He has been confined to a wheelchair for 38 years .
He jokes that before the accident , he had studied animal husbandry in college with the intention of working in horse “ reining ” – an American version of dressage . “ If not for the accident , I might be living in a trailer beside a horse stable , mucking stalls . Now I ’ ve gotten to go overseas and to every state in the country . It ’ s quite a life .”
Not surprisingly , that wasn ’ t his attitude in June 1980 , in the days following his accident , when the spinal surgeon told him he would be using a wheelchair for the rest of his life and that he would “ need to deal with it .”
Three times in that first year , having gone past denial , anger and bargaining and reached the fourth level of grief ( which is depression ), he said , “ If I ’ d had a gun , I might well have used it on myself . So , it ’ s probably a good thing I didn ’ t have a gun .”
A chance encounter on his college campus ( Morrisville State College in Upstate New York , near Syracuse ) changed his course from thoughts of suicide to a full life of helping others .
“ There was a kid on campus with spina bifida who ’ d been in a wheelchair his whole life . As we were heading out to class , he said , ‘ I ’ ll race you to the lamppost .’ He was a little kid . I ’ d played basketball and football , and jumped high hurdles , in high school . But he beat me by half the distance to the pole . That got my fires burning .”
Hereby resolved : to eventually beat that kid in a race .
The actual training to win races didn ’ t begin for a few years , though , until Erway graduated from Penn State University ’ s school of business and moved to Harrisburg , Pennsylvania , for a sales and marketing job with a paper company .
There , he got involved in a local wheelchair athletic group . “ Playing in that program allowed me to network for the first time with other people with disabilities .”
He switched jobs , going to work for a company that sold wheelchairs and adapted vehicles . “ I came to realize that while people hate being in a wheelchair , they love being able to drive a car . It was my first realization of the importance of being able to make people happy .”
He remembered his own first two questions after his accident : “ Can I still drive ?” “ And can I have sex ?” Not necessarily in that order .
“ I began developing the outlook that the more people you help , the more you will be blessed ,” he said . “ That ’ s where my life really started to change .”
He began to train for racing , getting to the 1990 Para-World Championships in Assen , Netherlands . “ I got smoked ,” he said .
But it encouraged him to come back home and begin weight training with an ex-Penn State football player . “ He was 6-foot-4 , 280 pounds ,” Erway remembered . “ So , when he told me to do two more on the bench , I did two more .”
He went to the 1992 nationals in Salt Lake City , a trial for the U . S . Paralympic team , but got beat by a 15-year-old . “ I was over 30 , and most of the competition was much younger ,” said Erway . “ Also , most of them didn ’ t have jobs , they could train full-time . I had to work full-time .”
He did some regional 10ks , “ but my heart wasn ’ t in it .”
In 1994 , Erway moved to Shelbyville , Kentucky , to start his own wheelchair and adapted van company . Eventually , Superior Van & Mobility in Louisville – another company that adapts motor vehicles , cars , vans and trucks – hired him in marketing and sales , covering all of Kentucky , Southern Indiana and Eastern Tennessee .
“ It ’ s a gratifying business ,” he said . “ Every day , I ’ m helping somebody get going again .”
But cruel fate wasn ’ t done with Erway . In July 2006 , while speeding down a steep hill in Shelbyville during a training run , he tried to avoid a pickup truck on the road , lost control of his wheelchair and slammed into the driver ’ s door . He fractured both his scapula and collarbone , broke two ribs , punctured a lung , suffered a spinal compression fracture and part of his scalp was separated from his skull .
Also , it was 94 degrees that day , so while the medical technicians were cautioning , “ don ’ t move him ,’” he lay on the asphalt and burned 60 percent of his back .
One helicopter ride , two hospital stays , three rehab stints , four operations and five months out of work followed . But this time , “ My attitude was , ‘ Racing brought me back before – it will bring me back again .’ ”
Four years later , he was competing in the world ’ s premiere wheelchair marathon in Oita , Japan .
And three years after that , he set out on his “ marathon marathon ” – competing in 50
18 EXTOL SPORTS / MARCH 2018