The camp sees participants ages 7 to 18 take part in a variety of wheelchair and disability sports.
ALLENDALE, Mich. — Liana Newbeck fell in love with wheelchair basketball when she attended Mary Free Bed Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp in the seventh grade.
“I don’t know how I would have liked it as much as I did without that first experience,” said Neusbeck, 19. “It was the first time I’d ever played in a sports wheelchair.”
Newbeck recalled how he first became interested in the sport and returned a few years later as a volunteer for the camp’s 40th anniversary.
“Meeting the volunteers in wheelchairs was a really important experience for me,” said Neusbeck. “I got to see that seniors are still playing sports and living life as disabled people and as seniors, something I didn’t see much of when I was growing up.”
Neubeck has spina bifida, a condition that occurs when the spine and spinal cord don’t form correctly, but she’s not alone at the camp.
Fussy Claddagh, 12, has been attending the camp for four years and also has spina bifida, and like Newbeck, his competitive spirit is still strong.
“Just have fun,” Claddagh says. “You’re going to meet a lot of people. [with] It’s the same disorder.”
Claddagh also discovered a love for sports while at camp.
Same for Brandon Binkley, the 11-year-old is attending the camp for the second time.
“I have no feeling from my waist down,” Binkley said. “I don’t feel the little cuts… they’re deep. They feel like mosquito bites.”
“In most cases, [issues]Then, if the pain seems to subside, take some ibuprofen to help with the pain.
