Courtesy Photo | (Photo courtesy Mike Murphy) Mike Murphy is airborne while snowboarding in a...... read more read more
Subscribe
FALLS CHURCH, Va.- Retired Army Staff Sgt. Michael Murphy is blind. Yet he says he has never seen the possibilities available to him more clearly in his life. This attitude is all he knows as he is preparing to compete on Team U.S. at the first-ever Invictus Winter Games in Vancouver in February. “I’m blessed because this is my second time at Invictus. I was able to participate in 2022 at the Hague for the summer games, and now I've been selected to participate on Team US again for the winter games, which is pretty exciting!”
Murphy lost his sight in 2018 after an accident on the airfield while on a deployment in Greece, where he also suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury. Adaptive sports gave this unmanned aircraft systems operator a new lease on life. “I wouldn’t have been where I am today without ARCP or Team Army, especially Marc Cattapan, the adaptive sports specialist from the Fort Carson SRU, because he introduced me to all of this. It truly saved my life,” said Murphy.
He got his taste of adaptive competitions at the 2022 Warrior and Invictus Games. Besides rowing and swimming, Murphy will take on two winter sports at Invictus. “My primary sport is snowboarding. Since losing my sight, I’ve been blessed with adaptive sports at multiple levels. Living in Colorado a few years ago, I could participate quite a bit, and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at it, so I'm excited to get to showcase that,” said Murphy, who will also compete in skeleton.
Murphy moved home to Albuquerque last year to reconnect with family and, as he says, sort some things out, and then something amazing happened. “God put the woman I've been looking for my whole life before me. Her name is Ashley, and I am blessed. She gets to experience the adaptive sports world with me. She is my fiancé now, so she will be with me when I compete at Invictus.”
Besides his new bride-to-be being with him, he says another highlight for him at these games is the fact that there is currently no blind snowboarding in the Paralympics, and he is excited to share his experience at this international level. “I want to show people what is possible. It means the world to me to be doing this. I love trying to set the bar high for myself, but to be part of memorable moments like the first-ever winter Invictus games is huge. I want to show what blind snowboarders can do.”
Murphy explained he snowboarded a little before losing sight and spent a lot of time on his rear end in the snow. He says that’s all changed. “Losing my sight made me a better snowboarder because the fear of heights and what’s out there is gone! It lets me trust my guides and let them do what they do instead of me seeing and worrying if there is a tree and if I will hit it. It changed things on a whole different level,” said Murphy.
Trust is everything in adaptive sports for a blind athlete, and this Team US athlete says he learned that at the Soldier Recovery Unit at Fort Carson. “ I think it’s a very special kind of sport, especially for a blind athlete, because everything I do requires a guide, which means I have to have trust. Your guide has to be better than you are and be able to take care of themselves but guide the blind athlete along in the process.”
Having his guide for snowboarding allows him to feel independent. “Snowboarding is one of those sports I thoroughly enjoy because I am still independent. I have my snowboard. I’m on my own, but I still need my guide to give me audio cues of left turn, right turn, and here's what's coming up.”
Along with his guide, he will have his guide dog, Maverick, who’s become a rockstar of the four-paw kind at recent games. However, Maverick has to wait at the bottom of the hill for Murphy while he competes. “Maverick will be with me when I compete at Invictus. He gets pretty excited. One of my favorite moments is always hearing him barking or crying, and when I finish an event, he attacks me with all his puppy love. There will be a nice roll in the snow for sure when I finish competing in Vancouver,” he says with a confident laugh.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.16.2025 16:16 |
| Story ID: | 489141 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 24 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, “Losing my sight made me a better snowboarder.”, by MaryTherese Griffin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
