“There’s a distinct stereotype that people with disabilities stay home and people have to take care of them,” says Jennifer French ’95. Her life story proves otherwise.
French, a quadriplegic since sustaining a spinal-cord injury while snowboarding in 1998, has qualified for the U.S. Disabled Sailing Team for the past two years and hopes to compete in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.
She discovered competitive sailing after she and her husband moved to St. Petersburg, Fla., five years ago. The only accommodation she receives is a special seat that allows her to turn from side to side, and she often competes against able-bodied teams.
“Usually we leave our crutches, wheelchairs and prosthetics on the dock. Once we’re in the water, everybody’s equal,” she says, adding that the “chess match” that is sailing requires mental as well as physical acuity.
Seven years ago, French became the first woman to have an FES device surgically implanted, which allows her to stand and move with a walker. The pioneering experience inspired her to found NeuroTech Network, a nonprofit organization that educates medical professionals and disabled people about neurotechnology.
