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NCHPAD - Building Healthy Inclusive Communities

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The Adaptable Athlete: Andy Yohe


Andy Yohe was born on July 21, 1978 in Davenport, Iowa and lived in DeWitt, Iowa until he was ten. When he moved to Peoria, Illinois, Andy first became interested in hockey and continued to skate when his family moved to Bettendorf, Iowa one year later. By the time he was fourteen, Andy was playing on a traveling roller hockey team. Little did he know that his love for hockey would lead to a trip to the Paralympics in Torino, Italy in 2006.

Two weeks into his sophomore year of high school, at age 16, Andy was attempting to jump onto a train when he fell and both legs were crushed under the train. He was airlifted to The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics where his left leg was amputated below the knee and his right leg was amputated above the knee. Andy was devastated but was determined to walk again. Three months later, Andy received his first pair of artificial limbs and began intense physical therapy to learn how to walk using them.

Andy yearned to be as active as he was prior to the accident. Upon his return to high school, he joined a local wheelchair basketball team and started lifting weights. During his senior year, he played for the Rollin Rebels, a junior wheelchair basketball team based in Chicago, and experienced playing in the national championship game, which fueled his desire to play adaptive sports with traveling teams.

Since then, Andy has excelled in a variety of adaptive sports teams and most recently has been honored with earning a medal in the Paralympics. In his collegiate years, Andy played wheelchair basketball with the Quad City Roughriders and the Rockford Chariots, wheelchair football with the Rehabilitation of Chicago (RIC) Rush team, and sled hockey with the RIC Blackhawks. In 2003, Andy received the rookie of the year award for the RIC Blackhawks, MVP of the Chicago Rush, and the 110% trophy for the Rockford Chariots. A year later, he decided to focus all efforts on hockey with the U.S. National Sled Hockey team. Andy considers his greatest accomplishment to be playing and earning a bronze medal in the 2006 Paralympics in Torino, Italy.

Andy's hard work and determination can be summed up in his one quote: "The key to playing disabled sports is to work hard, stay positive, and don't be afraid to take chances. You will never know if you can't do something if you don't try it."

Contact Andy at ayohe54@yahoo.com.

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