(Part Three in the Duane Morrow Series)
Duane Morrow had to travel a little farther than usual for his most recent race – 6,862 miles, in fact. He was nervous about this competition – it had been less than a year since he’d undergone additional neck surgery, and he was unsure of his ability to race well. He contemplated what kind of pain he’d be in during and after the Oita International Wheelchair Half Marathon. He wondered if it would be worth it.
As he stretched, he found himself surveying the other racers, determining who would be the top competitors. He figured out who he’d need to keep pace with and who he’d need to beat in order to bring his team (The Shepherd Center Spinners) to victory. He looked up at the rainy Oita, Japan, sky and around at all the other athletes. He knew he’d have to do his best – be his best – to win. So, in true Duane Morrow fashion, he was his best. And he won.
(To learn more about Duane’s amazing story of survival and recovery, read “The Adventure Continues.”)
Prepping for the Race
Primerica EVP and world-class athlete, Duane Morrow was the only American competing in the T52 Quad Division. The 44-year-old quadriplegic athlete crossed the finish line first, beating his personal best for the 13.1-mile tear at just 1:06:31. He gives some of the credit for his top showing to his racer – a real Georgia-made machine that sports the distinct University of Georgia “G” and the red and black that are so dear to his heart. The chair weighs about 23 lbs. and is composed of titanium, aluminum and carbon fiber components, much like top-end bicycles.
Even with a boss chair and rigorous training, Duane was surprised to win the largest and best-organized race of its kind in the world. (He dismissed his training schedule as just three to four days a week in a wheelchair doing some type of extreme exercise. “You know, rugby, racing or hand cycling,” he added, nonchalantly.)
When he crossed the finish line, he was just thankful to have run a good race, he recalled. “My GPS showed me that I’d beat my personal best and had done enough to beat the 2010 winner’s time, but it wasn’t until a reporter approached me for an interview that I knew I’d won first place,” he remembered. He was even happier to learn that Kevin Scott Stokes, also from a Shepherd Center team, did a personal best of 1:30:46 and placed first in the T51 Quad Division. (Kevin will be in England in 2012 representing the United States in the track and field events.)
With his personal translator and assistant, Duane braved the interview circuit, receiving accolades from the Oita mayor and high-ranking military officials and sharing his story of perseverance. Then he quietly and quickly made himself scarce. He had another important event to attend less than 24 hours later. Duane woke at 4 o’clock the next morning, took two buses, two planes and a car ride to make it back to Georgia just in time to drive the tractor pulling the Morrow “Fab Five” (his five children) and their friends around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating.
If you think something can’t be done, just ask Duane Morrow. If it’s worth it, he’d say, your doubt is the only thing standing in your way.
Tags: Duane Morrow, Japan, marathon, Oita, Oita International Wheelchair Half Marathon, Primerica, Shepherd Center, Shepherd Center Spinners, Shepherd Spinal Center, wheel chair
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He’s a competitive racer ranking fastest in the U.S. – second in the world. He plays rugby, golf and tennis. He even water skis, snow skis and dives for fun. And, by the way, he’s quadriplegic.
Duane Morrow, Primerica’s Executive Vice President of Field Marketing, was living and working in England when he broke his neck during a rugby game in 2004. He was paralyzed from the chest down, but, for this tenacious athlete, life didn’t end. It simply changed … and he adapted.
Life 2.0
After surgery and months of inpatient rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Morrow was ready for more. He had been told that there was a 99% chance he’d never walk again, but he rebuked those odds. He asked his nurses to wake him up at 5 a.m. so he could be at the gym at 6 a.m. when it opened. He worked out for hours, trying to retrain his body to walk.
Morrow saw how the therapy was helping him over time. He met with Shepherd Center officials to try to establish an extreme therapy program for other athletes who wanted to go beyond traditional treatments. While the center was not equipped for the program at the time, only four months later, Morrow got a call from Gary Ulicny, president of the Shepherd Center. He wanted to try it out. Beyond Therapy was born. Now, two years later, the program has doubled in size. Plus, there’s a 100-person waiting list … and Morrow is the spokesperson. His Primerica family is not surprised. Morrow’s excitement and determination have become a banner – an example of what it means to be a Primerica rep.
That drive, a “saint” for a wife, hard work and top-notch technology – like robotic treadmills – helped him to begin standing with assistance, Morrow says. But he gives the real credit where he says credit is due: “Doctors don’t know everything. God’s pretty cool.” Today he has renewed use of his arms and hands, and even walks with the use of a cane.
While he’s no longer an inpatient at the Shepherd Center, Morrow still receives physical therapy there. When he’s not traveling the country on Primerica business, he routinely walks seven flights of stairs. He throws medicine balls and he runs in the pool. He’s hardcore. “You can adapt, or you can go into a cave and give up,” Morrow says. “The technology exists. You can figure it out.”
Now Morrow is helping other people “find their new normal.” He visits Shepherd’s patients often – even those he’s never met before. He explains that people who once took 15-20 minutes to get ready in the morning are now taking 1-2 hours. Their lives have changed dramatically on all levels and, according to him, there are certain things that are better learned from someone who’s figured out how to live this new life. So, why has he taken on this personal mission? “Everyone wants to live a life of significance,” he says. “That’s real wealth.”
It Ain’t Over
He’s convinced (and convincing!) that people with physical disabilities can lead extreme lives. For the past four years, he’s participated in an Adventure Skills Workshop sponsored by the Shepherd Center – two years as a patient, two as a volunteer counselor. People with all degrees of ability attend these workshops to participate in rugby, rock wall climbing, tubing, fishing, water skiing, zip lining and more! Morrow says the real advantage is that they get to be with 200 other people who are looking for their new normal, too. Many of them find it there, too. One man at a recent camp says he thought he would never hunt again. But, with the help of harnesses and assistance, he was able to find a new way to do something he always loved.
Making It Work
For Morrow, this whole experience has been a lesson in perseverance. It’s a lesson that he believes able-bodied people can learn, too. He tells how people can begin learning from the disabled: First, he says, don’t let little inadequacies embarrass you. Work through them. Second, introduce children to people with disabilities. That way, it’s not uncomfortable to them when they are in close quarters with someone in a wheelchair. Plus, they’ll learn that setbacks don’t have to mean the end of the world. Finally, ask before helping a disabled person, and don’t be offended if he or she says, “no.” They don’t need as much help as we think, he says. Besides, some disabled people, like Morrow himself, can be more “able” than the rest of us!
Tags: Adventure Skills Workshop, disabled, Duane Morrow, handicapped, quadriplegic, rugby, Shepherd Spinal Center, wheelchair
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