Unlock Your Inner Champion

Judy Siegle was injured nearly 29 years ago in a car accident when she was a teenager. But before becoming an incomplete C6 quad, she was a very athletic young woman and an all-state basketball player in high school in the small northern Minnesota town where she grew up.

A resident of Fargo, North Dakota, Siegle, now 47, has led a life built on beating expectations and fighting with all her might to be the best she can be. "It's not about being the best, it's about being your best," she says. Last year, Siegle self-published her book, Living Without Limits: 10 Keys to Unlocking the Champion in You.

Siegle credits her faith as being the cornerstone of where she's found the strength in making the best out of her SCI. "My outlook on life and positive attitude comes from my faith in God. After my accident, I realized that while there was a time to grieve, I couldn't dwell on what I had lost, on what I couldn't be doing, and clung to my faith. It gave and continues to give me not only a positive attitude, but passion, direction and purpose to my days."

Siegle, in addition to being the community relations specialist for the MeritCare Health System and having a master's degree in social work, is also a past Paralympian in quad wheelchair racing and a motivational speaker. "I had no idea what a quadriplegic could even do in sports," she says. "It's an incredible feeling to have the chance to represent the United States as an athlete." She participated in the Paralympics in both Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

"There is joy in realizing the gift of each day, working with what you've got, and daring to make a difference. No one can make a difference like you."

Her book can be purchased at her site: www.judysiegle.com.

Reprinted with permission, New Mobility: Life on Wheels, August 2008