Miley Rhoad on Quad Rugby and the Power of Peer Mentors | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Miley Rhoad is a 19-year-old wheelchair or “quad rugby” player from South Carolina. I’ve gotten to know Miley over the past few summers when she has attended the Empower SCI teen summer program and emerged as a confident, … Read more
Carlie Cook on Climbing, College, and Cultivating Positivity | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Carlie Cook has lived nearly her entire life with her disability after she was paralyzed in a car accident at three years old. Now, as an adult, she has a full life in Western Massachusetts where she is a a professional … Read more
Cole Bernier on Adaptive Mountain Biking and Mental Health | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Cole Bernier and I initially connected on a work call. After discussing collaborative opportunities between Bowhead, where he works on the sales team, and EmpowerSCI, my workplace, we chatted generally about our experiences with spinal cord injury. Cole was very … Read more
Dianne Vitkus | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Dianne Vitkus and I met five and a half years ago in Spaulding Hospital while she was in inpatient rehab after her spinal cord injury and I was there for a PT appointment. Over the years we’ve become friends through our mutual enthusiasm for adaptive sports, the … Read more
Sean and Jill Leary on North of North | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description A couple years ago we started hearing about a wheelchair accessible resort in Northern Minnesota call North of North. Several Unexpected Journey guests and listeners visited and raved about it. I reached out to Sean Leary who, together with his wife … Read more
Adaptive athlete shares his story of resilience, recovery, and redefining what’s possible The Unexpected Journey, the acclaimed podcast dedicated to elevating voices from the adaptive and disability communities, returns for its sixth season on Thursday, July 9th. The season premiere features High Fives Foundation athlete Landon McGauley, whose story highlights resilience, perseverance, and the power … Read more
Landon McGauley | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Landon McGauley grew up in British Columbia. Like many of our other guests from BC, he spent his formative years in the outdoors exploring the mountains and at an early age fell in love with biking, riding around his neighborhood with a shovel to build dirt jumps. … Read more
World Inclusive Sailing Championships | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Last fall, I traveled to Oman for the World Inclusive Sailing Championships. It was an incredible experience. The inaugural event brought together many of the best adaptive sailors in the world, all competing to be world champion in one of three different classes – the … Read more
Becca Farewell | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description After talking with Tanja Kari in Episode 57 we were super excited to learn more about the TetraSki, an emerging technology for the adaptive alpine skiing community. If you haven’t already, I recommend giving episode 57 a listen before continuing this episode. We wanted to hear from … Read more
Tanja Kari | The Unexpected Journey Episode Description Tanja Kari is a Paralympic gold medalist in cross country skiing from Finland. In 2010 she was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame, she has been nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sports Person of the Year with a Disability, and in 1998 and … Read more
