The next time you hit mile 20 in the final leg of an Ironman and your legs are starting to ache, look down at them and be thankful that they are there. Before you look for someone to complain to about the pain, remind yourself that it's great you have two legs to start with.Scott Rigsby doesn't have that luxury. He doesn't get to suffer from a sore foot or ankle during a marathon. He wishes he did. Last October the double leg amputee from Atlanta, Georgia finised the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona. He's one of the athletes that NBC will profile during their coverage of the event next Saturday, February 16. Sort of brings it home, doesn't it? If he can do it, is there any reason we can't?
Rigsby’s story is inspiring in so many more ways than simply the fact that he completed an Ironman. This is a guy who thought he had it made-in-the-shade as a young 18-year-old. Sitting on the back of a pick up truck with a bunch of friends after a day of landscaping work the summer before he was to head off to college, Rigsby suddenly found himself being dragged under a trailer after an 18-wheeler hit them. By the time everything stopped he had been scraped more than 300 feet. One leg had to be amputated right then. Road rash? Try road burn – he had to be treated for burns after the accident.
More than a decade later the other leg was taken off. In between there were 26 operations. The guy spent so much time in the hospital, he considered himself to be a professional patient.
It would have been easy to give up. Broke and despondent, one day Rigsby decided to change his life. Despite all the odds, he became an athlete. Within a few years he became a world record holder for double amputee athletes over both running and triathlon distances. Last year he made his first attempt at an Ironman at Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene. He didn’t make it to the finish line that day … not because of any problems with his fitness. In keeping with the seemingly endless challenges thrown this guy’s way, Rigsby crashed on his bike and was forced out of the race … but not before he finished the bike and made it through 12 miles of the run.
One broken vertebrae later, Rigsby finally recovered and found himself with 100 days to train for the Ford Ironman World Championship.
It’s not like things got a whole lot better leading up to Kona. Practically penniless, Rigsby stayed at a bed and breakfast in Puako that offered him complementary accommodation. Unfortunately he turned out to be allergic to the detergent they used. After copious quantities of Benadryl he got back to training.
Rigsby’s story will make a great movie. After each successive challenge, he battles on. He’s now not only the first double amputee to finish the Ironman, he’s become an active advocate for athletes with disabilities – he started his own foundation last year.
Don’t miss the feature on Rigsby that will appear during the NBC coverage of the Ford Ironman World Championship, which airs on Saturday, February 16 from 2 – 3:30 PM (EST) – check local listings for times.For more information on the Scott Rigsby Foundation, go to www.scottrigsby.com
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