Dawson native Lorenzo Thomas brings home medals from National Veterans Wheelchair Games

DAWSON — Lorenzo Thomas has always been a competitive person and after going five years without competing in anything, it didn’t take long for his competitive fire to be stoked.

“I hadn’t been able to compete in so long,” Thomas said. “When I did get the opportunity to compete in something, it did not take long for those competitive juices to get flowing.”

The 2016 National Veterans Wheelchair Games, which took place in Salt Lake City from June 27-July 2, was the perfect setting for the Dawson native. It allowed Thomas to compete in multiple athletic events while also allowing him to build friendships with other veterans in similar situations.

Thomas, who served in the Army from 1980-1986, has been confined to a motorized wheelchair since 2011 when he was involved in a motorcycle accident in Sasser.

“There was a truck riding towards the middle of the road to stay off the bumps,” Thomas said. “When I met him, it was kind of hard for me to straighten up the bike and get over at the same time. The bike wanted to go to the left, and I wanted to go to the right. I went across a grass field, hit a little ditch and the bike threw me. I landed on my head.”

After the accident, Thomas was confined to a sip-and-puff wheelchair, which is used to send signals to a device by using air pressure. Thomas has slowly gained movement in his arms and legs and is now able to control the movement of his motorized wheelchair with a joystick-type device.

Thomas currently attends occupational and physical therapy twice a week at the Carl Vinson Veterans Affair Medical Center in Dublin. It was during one of his visits to the medical center that he found out about the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

The National Veterans Wheelchair Games began in 1981 and have been held every year since. More than 500 athletes have participated in the games every year since 2009. Thomas estimates that 600-650 athletes competed in this year’s edition.

“The camaraderie of the whole thing intrigued me,” Thomas said. “It was amazing to see how big it was. Six hundred athletes competing in 18 different events, it was really something to see. There were participants from all 50 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. You got to meet a lot of different people from all over the nation.”

In his first time participating in the games, Thomas competed in four different events. He took home a silver medal in the motor rally event and gold in bocce ball.

Thomas also competed in the power soccer event and scored his team’s first goal. They lost to the eventual bronze medal winners.

“It was like, ‘Okay, we are going to get you guys next year,’” he said.

The motor rally consists of 10 different stations with competitors racing to each station, but only after answering a question about the state of Utah.

“I Googled as much as I could and studied up on Utah,” Thomas said. “Of course, they asked none of the questions that I studied.”

The competitors are assigned to certain events based on the range of motion of their arms and legs.

Despite his limitations, Thomas remains upbeat and thankful for what he can do.

“Him being always ready to go helps me a lot,” Thomas’ caretaker, Jeanette Jackson, said. “It helps when you have someone that really wants to help themselves.”

Although it hasn’t yet been a month since he returned home from his first National Veterans Wheelchair Games, Thomas vows to be at next year’s edition.

“I had a wonderful time,” he said. “It will be held in Cincinnati next year, and I’m looking forward to going. You meet people that you look forward to seeing again. I was telling them, ‘I look forward to seeing you next year in Cincinnati.’”

Not only is Thomas thinking about seeing the friends he made in Salt Lake City, he is also envisioning the multiple new medals he plans to bring home.

“I’m going to be bringing back more gold medals next time,” he said with a smile.