When Todd Hammons broke his neck diving in a gravel pit, he thought his life was over.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. The Romulus resident has spent the 29 years since he sustained a spinal cord injury at age 19 finding ways to do just about everything he wants to do and helping others do the same. As the Accessibility Advisor for Special Tree, Hammons spearheads the annual SCI Mobility + Recreation Expo, set this year for Thursday, August 23, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on the Special Tree Neurocare campus in Romulus (10909 Hannan Road).
The event, in its fifth year, showcases an array of recreational and sports activities for individuals living with spinal cord injuries, including demos on-site.
As a C5-6 quadriplegic, Hammons says “the first two years were a battle.” Then he went to college and got involved in a program called Think First. Hammons speaks regularly on a variety of topics relevant for individuals living with spinal cord injuries. He recently won a national award as VIP speaker of the year on these topics.
Free and open to the public, the SCI Mobility + Recreation Expo features a variety of vendors and demos including rugby, tennis, basketball, ballroom dancing and water skiing/wakeboarding. The demo schedule includes Cheryl Angelelli ballroom dancing at 11:30 a.m., the Detroit DieHards playing basketball at 12:15 p.m., Chet Kuskowski on water skiing and wake boarding at 1 p.m., Adam Cavanaugh on rugby at 1:45 p.m., and Bryan Wilkinson featuring tennis at 2:30 p.m. Nick Long will demonstrate hand cycling during the entire expo.
For more information, visit www.specialtree.com/sciexpo
