Easter Seals provides exceptional services, education, outreach, and advocacy so that people living with autism and other disabilities can live, learn, work and play in our communities.
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For Immediate Release
Going for Gold: U.S. Paralympic Athlete and College Freshman Raising Thousands to Provide for Others with Disabilities (Chicago, April 21, 2004) -- For many college students, summer break means coming home, starting a part-time job, shelving the textbooks, and enjoying some fun in the sun. For Sam Williams, who will soon complete his freshman year at the University of Illinois, summer break is a time to give back and go for the gold. Last month, Sam made the U.S. Paralympic boccia team and will compete in Athens in September. If training wasn’t enough this summer, Sam is also working to raise at least $50,000 to support Easter Seals’ services for children and adults with disabilities through a new, interactive online film and fund-raiser at www.easterseals.com/sam. “I can’t imagine my life without Easter Seals,” said Sam. “I want to make sure they are able to be there for others like me -- it’s the least I can do.” At 20, Sam excels in his classes, loves competitive sports, spends time hanging out with friends, and even flies airplanes. He also has cerebral palsy -- a disability caused by brain damage at birth and marked by muscular impairment that makes life, its daily functions and tasks, more taxing for Sam than for his peers. Thus, Sam spends most of his time in a motorized wheelchair and speaks with the aid of a computerized speech synthesizer, similar to the device used by Stephen Hawking. Athens Bound Just after Sam was born, his family turned to Easter Seals DuPage in Villa Park, Illinois, to find solutions for the many challenges ahead. Easter Seals has been a central part of the Williams’ family ever since, providing years of physical, occupational and speech-hearing therapy, as well as assistive technology, to help Sam communicate, walk, graduate from his local public high school, develop skills necessary for independent living, and compete in the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Sam started playing boccia at age 10, an indoor version of the popular lawn bowling game. Boccia has given Sam -- and thousands of others with disabilities -- an opportunity to compete and be a part of an athletic team. He has since participated in many North American boccia competitions, most recently winning both the Illinois Games and pairs national championship in 2002 and 2003. And now, Sam will join approximately 300 athletes with disabilities representing the United States in the summer games. Paving the Way “But the best part is that I can talk and joke with my teachers, my family and all of my friends,” Sam said. In 2003, Sam took part in Easter Seals’ innovative SuitAbility or TheraSuit Program -- making it possible for him to walk across the stage to receive his high school diploma. The intensive, cutting-edge therapy worked to strengthen Sam’s muscles, in part, by using a modified Russian spacesuit to minimize the physical effects of weightlessness. Sam also starred in an award-winning documentary film produced by two Northern Illinois University film students, "Please Wait to be Seated."* “Through hard work and commitment, Sam is achieving his dreams,” said James E. Williams, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals. “That’s what our organization is all about -- providing help, hope and heart for thousands just like the Williams’ family. We’re thrilled that Sam has made the U.S. Paralympic team and honored that he wants to help Easter Seals make a difference for others.” Take Sam’s Challenge For 85 years, Easter Seals has been providing services that help children and adults with disabilities gain greater independence. Our primary services -- medical rehabilitation, job training and employment, child care, adult day services, and camping and recreation -- benefit more than one million individuals with disabilities and their families each year through more than 500 centers nationwide. For more information, visit www.easterseals.com. *Learn more about “Please Wait to be Seated” at http://www.niu.edu/northerntoday/2003/oct13/easterseals.shtml. |
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