FROM WHEELCHAIR TO PADDLEBOARDER - DEI SERIES

AdventureTV

Description

Welcome to the adventure sports family!

This FREE content is available to AdventureTV followers. Click the video, enter an email address and password to create a free XOTV.me profile, and click “follow” AdventureTV.

In this episode of AdventureTV we celebrate the accomplishments of a newbie paddle boarder with a disability and the community of volunteers—“the rope team,” who came out to support Melissa. And we hope to inspire you to help someone with a disability to #GetOutsideAndAdventure

That’s the smile of a brand new paddler!

“I feel so free of my disability.” Melissa Simpson @colorado__girl on Instagram.

“ Wheelchair Explorer” + No Barriers USA Ambassador Melissa Simpson worked hard for a year to condition herself to go from a wheelchair to on the water as an independent adaptive paddleboarder. I’m so proud to be her paddlesports mentor.

We started with the Badfisher paddleboard by Badfishsup, added a Badfish Perch Fishing Chair, and a custom Badfish kayak paddle. Next, we bought yoga blocks, cam straps, and a flotation belt to create the adaptive equipment for Melissa’s unique needs.

After some instructions from our amazing volunteers, Melissa was paddling around the lake on her own, proving the No Barriers USA ethos– “What’s within you is stronger than what’s in your way.”

Photo credit: Matthew James Berrafato MBerrafato Images

A special thanks to Deborah Kane, Vibe Tribe Adventures and its American Adventure Sports Club, Badfish SUP, Kokatat, Team River Runner Fort Collins, and the City of Loveland City of Loveland Parks and Recreation, we could not have made this happen without support from your Certified Adaptive Recreation and Sports Therapist. 🙌🏾 teamwork makes the dream work! Finally, AdventureTV is the proud sponsor and organizer of this dream come true. And we could not have made this possible without support from our channel subscribers and sponsors like you. THANK YOU!

You can buy most of the gear shown in this video from Badfish SUP, Watershed Drybags, and Kokatat.

Now get 10% OFF WATERSHED DRYBAGS using the WhitewaterTV discount code WWTV10

If you like this content, let our sponsors know by following Antoinette Lee Toscano AdventureTV_XOTV on Instagram for more tips, information, community, and opportunities for free adventures and products.

DISCOUNTS

Now get 10% off Watershed drybags using the AdventureTV discount code WWTV10

Executive Producer: Antoinette Lee Toscano, MBA

Antoinette Lee Toscano on Instagram

🖌 AdventureTV Logo: Hailey Thompson of Waterwoods.com

https://www.instagram.com/adventuretv_xotv/

🎥 Creative Director | Lead Videographer/Sound/Video Editing: Matthew James Berrafato MBerrafato Images

📍Filmed on the ancestral lands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute, peoples.