Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking is severely disabled by motor neuron disease also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS. Hawking’s illness is markedly different from typical ALS in the fact that his form of ALS would make for the most protracted case ever documented. A survival for more than 10 years after diagnosis is uncommon for ALS. At the celebration of his 65th birthday on 8 January 2007, Hawking announced his plan to take a zero-gravity flight in 2007 to prepare for a sub-orbital spaceflight in 2009 on Virgin Galactic’s space service. He became the first quadriplegic to float in zero-gravity. This was the first time in 40 years that he moved freely, without his wheelchair.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war. The only American president elected to more than two terms, he was often referred to by his initials, FDR. Roosevelt won his first of four presidential elections in 1932, while the United States was in the depths of the Great Depression. FDR’s combination of optimism and economic activism is often credited with keeping the country’s economic crisis from developing into a political crisis. Roosevelt was very rarely photographed while sitting in his wheelchair, and his public appearances were choreographed in such a way as to avoid having the press cover his arrival and departure at public events which would have involved his having to get in or out of a car. When possible, his limousine was driven into a hotel’s parking garage for his arrivals and departures.

Teddy Pendergrass

Theodore DeReese “Teddy” Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade. In 1982, he was severely injured in an auto accident in Philadelphia, resulting in his being paralyzed from the waist down. After his injury, the affable entertainer founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, a foundation that helps those with spinal cord injuries.

Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. He achieved stardom for his acting achievements, including his notable motion picture portrayal of the fictional character Superman. On May 27, 1995, Reeve became a quadriplegic after being thrown from his horse in an eventing competition in Culpeper, Virginia. He required a wheelchair and breathing apparatus for the rest of his life. He lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries, and for human embryonic stem cell research afterward. He founded the Christopher Reeve Foundation and co-founded the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.

Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli American violin virtuoso, conductor, and master-instructor. He is widely considered as one of the preeminent violin virtuosi of the 20th century. Perlman was born in Tel Aviv, in what was soon to be Israel, where he first became interested in the violin when he heard a classical music performance on the radio. He studied at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv before moving to the United States to study at the Juilliard School with the great violin pedagogue, Ivan Galamian, and his assistant Dorothy DeLay. Perlman contracted polio at the age of four. He made a good recovery, learning to walk with the use of crutches. Today, he generally uses crutches or an mobility scooter and plays the violin while seated.

Larry Flynt

Larry Claxton Flynt, Jr. is an American publisher and the head of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). In 2003, Arena magazine listed him at the top of the “50 Most Powerful People in Porn” list. Hugh Hefner was listed second. LFP mainly produces sexually graphic videos and magazines, most notably Hustler. The company has an annual turnover of approximately $300 million. Flynt has fought several prominent legal battles involving the First Amendment, and has unsuccessfully run for public office. He is paralyzed from the waist down due to injuries sustained in a 1978 assassination attempt. On March 6, 1978, during a legal battle related to obscenity in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Flynt and his local lawyer Gene Reeves Jr. were shot in an ambush near the county courthouse in Lawrenceville. The shooting left him in a wheelchair, with permanent spinal cord damage.

23/04/2010
Source: wheelchairnetwork.com