Paralympian Dennis Ogbe defying paralysis
.jpg)
Dennis Ogbe grips the discus in his right hand. He swings his arm and twists at the waist as far to the right as he can. With one move he snaps back, letting the saucer fly. Upper-body strength is important for any discus thrower, but for Ogbe, a Paralympian, it’s everything.
At age three, Ogbe contracted malaria, and while receiving treatment at a clinic near his home in rural Nigeria, he became infected with the poliovirus. Paralyzed from the waist down, he was sent home in the arms of his mother.
He credits his physical rehabilitation to a harsh form of therapy – the taunts of the other children in his village. After taking his crutches away, kids would dare him to take several steps forward before they would allow Ogbe to join in a game of soccer with them. Eventually, his right leg became stronger and he could walk without a wheelchair or crutches, but his left leg remained paralyzed.
Ogbe, now a U.S. citizen, has made a name for himself in the international Paralympic community and holds the American records for discus and shot put. While competing, he earned a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Ky. Today he serves as an advocate for polio eradication and as an ambassador for the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign to promote childhood immunizations. He spoke at Rotary’s World Polio Day: Making History event on 24 October in Chicago, which is where we caught up with him.
“Whatever I do in this life, I hope and pray that it is going to inspire people,” he says. “I hope it challenges them: ‘If Dennis can do it, I can do it.’”
Megan Ferringer, Adapted from a story in the April 2014 issue of The Rotarian