Born in New Jersey with a condition known as tibial hemimelia, I was born without either of my tibia bones which resulted in having my legs amputated above the knee at 10 months old. With the guidance of my parents and friends, I learned from a young age that some circumstances cannot be controlled, but attitude can, which is something that has stuck with me to this day.
Fully embracing a positive attitude throughout life, I was a regular participant in physical education classes despite having much less speed, agility, and footwork on my prosthetic legs than my peers had. However, longing for a competitive outlet to compete with athletes on a level playing field, I discovered sled hockey and started playing at age 10.
After playing a few years and being invited to various USA Hockey player development camps, I was asked to join the 2008-2009 US National Sled Hockey Team despite not trying out. Being the youngest and most inexperienced member of the team, I watched, learned, and practiced with some of my childhood idols as a 15 year old which ended with the team’s first world championship in a 1-0 win over Norway in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Leading into the 2010 Paralympic year’s tryout, I was (overly) confident, especially being on a world championship team the past year. However, once the initial 18 man roster was released, my name wasn’t on it. Vowing to work to prove the coaching staff wrong, I played with the Junior National Team and lead as one of their captains at the beginning of the season. Seeing physical improvement and a winning attitude, the team called me up to the national team in November 2009 and played well enough beat out three other players to cement the final spot as the youngest player on the US squad at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games where the team shutout every opponent en route to a gold medal.
After Vancouver, my role on the team grew from playing only a few minutes each game to tying the team lead in points at the 2013 World Championship in South Korea. Although a 2nd place finish to Canada in South Korea wasn’t in the game plan, it helped me grow confident in my individual abilities heading into Sochi the next year.
Playing on the top line, I was able to help the team become the first team to win back to back Paralympic gold medals in sled hockey for the first time ever. The win catapulted the team to a World Championship victory in 2015 on home soil in the US an I was named Best Defenseman of the Tournament.
Heading into the 2017-2018 season, the team had a lot of pressure to perform, being the reigning repeat champions at the Paralympics. In October of 2017, I was named captain of the team and, at just 25 years old, became the youngest captain in program history. Despite adversity throughout the season, the team was able to stage an epic comeback while trailing 1-0 with only a minute to go in the gold medal game. Scoring with 37 seconds left on the clock, the US team was able to tie the game and win on a goal 4 minutes into the overtime period. I’m one of only three players to have three Paralympic gold medals in sled hockey.
