Army veteran LeToi Adams is a beast.
The elite wheelchair athlete made the game-winning free throw Saturday which landed her red team a spot in this year’s championship wheelchair basketball game during this year’s National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
For that, Adams won a silver medal, adding to her already impressive collection of more than 25 medals. She was also awarded Spirit of the Games 2021 for Group 2 Veterans.
Through Wednesday, hundreds of veterans who use wheelchairs will compete in the 20 sports during the National Veterans Wheelchair Games in New York City and in their local communities.
Since 1981, the Department of Veterans Affairs has held the National Veterans Wheelchair Games as a therapeutic sports program throughout its Spinal Cord Injury Service and Rehabilitation Service to enhance and enrich veterans’ independence and lives following catastrophic injury or disease such as Adams experienced.
In January of 2011, Adams began experiencing severe pain in her back. Following a trip to the hospital, she was put on pain medication, but that did not help. Physical therapy also did not ease her discomfort.
“On March 12, I woke up and could not turn over my body,” she said.
An x-ray ultimately found a lesion around Adams’ spine; leading to a diagnosis of stage 4 non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
“I did my chemotherapy, did my radiation and became a cancer survivor in September of 2011,” she said.
Prior to her illness, Adams said she did not know a lot about adaptive sports.
“When I found out about adaptive sports, I was able to come out to Utah and compete in the Wheelchair Games in 2016,” she said. “I literally felt at home, It literally brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. I saw so many people like myself in a wheelchair.”
Adams, a California native, found adaptive sports through a program called Triumph.
“I just want to give back to adaptive sports any way I can,” she said.
Adams said adaptive sports improved not only her health but her confidence as well. Prior to becoming involved with adaptive sports, Adams said she remained inside her home for 23 hours a day because she was afraid of people’s reactions to her being in a wheelchair.
Adams was introduced to adaptive sports at UCLA, where she began playing wheelchair basketball. That gave her the confidence to relocate to Whitewater, Wisconsin with her fiancee so she could play basketball and continue her education in 2018.
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“The community I found in LA built me up to come to this community in Whitewater, Wisconsin,” she said.
VA Recreational Therapist Erinn Aulba called adaptive sports a game-changer for Adams and other veterans.
“Mentally, it’s a confidence boost,” she said.
In addition to basketball, Adams is also competing in slalom, powerlifting and a number of field events, including discus, javelin, shot put, adaptive fitness, and adaptive E-Sports
In 1985, VA partnered with Paralyzed Veterans of America to plan and execute the National Veterans Wheelchair Games and help extend its reach. The NVWG has flourished to more than 20 events and 600 athletes as more VA therapists turn to adaptive sports to help Veterans become more active in their daily living and in their communities.
To learn more about the Games, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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