The Campus Chronicle
 

The Campus Chronicle, an online newspaper
for University of West Georgia faculty and staff, is the official
source for UWG news and information for all members of the campus community.

Unthinkable Today is Tomorrow’s Reality

When Scott Rigsby was 18 years old he was working a summer landscaping job and waiting to start college. But his life changed moments after he climbed into the back of a pickup truck with his friends. An 18-wheeler barreled down on them. The impact threw Rigsby out of the pickup. He was dragged 300 feet beneath the three-ton trailer. He lost both legs.

When Scott Rigsby was 18 years old he was working a summer landscaping job and waiting to start college. But his life changed moments after he climbed into the back of a pickup truck with his friends. An 18-wheeler barreled down on them. The impact threw Rigsby out of the pickup. He was dragged 300 feet beneath the three-ton trailer. He lost both legs.

Ironman Scott Rigsby spoke at UWG's fifth annual Disabilities Awareness Day.

Years of countless surgeries, depression, fear and struggles followed, Rigsby told a crowd recently at UWG’s Campus Center. Rigsby, a Georgia native, visited campus for the fifth annual Disabilities Awareness Day.

He had reached the point of suicide. One night, lying on his parent’s living room floor, he cried out to his mother and asked her advice. His mom prayed continuously, Rigsby said. After they spoke, he decided to pray as well. Rigsby made a promise: if God opened doors for him, he would run through them.

Everything changed after that. Rigsby went on to become an Ironman Triathlete. In 2007 he became the first double-amputee to finish the competition. In October, he bested his time by 20 seconds – he finished the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii in 16 hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds.

“Today’s unthinkables are tomorrow’s reality,” Rigsby told the audience.

D-Day has become a popular event at UWG, where students and visitors get to experience life from a different perspective: making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches blindfolded and tying shoelaces while their hands are hampered.

Sharon Nunnally, assistant coordinator of Disability Services, said the event began as a day to recognize those in wheelchairs. But it has grown to recognize a wide array of disabilities, ranging from physical to mental.

The Office of Disability Services works within the Student Development Center. For more information on all the services the Student Development Center offers, call 678-839-6428.