Hang Gliding with Disabilities
Mickey Sarraille, 49, of Wildomar, glides through the air. “When I’m up there, I lose my disability,” said Sarraille. “To climb 10,000 feet and fly across the valley, there is nothing like the freedom of flying.”
There are a large number of people all over the world who suffer from disabilities. Unfortunately, most of them will tell you that because of whatever special need he or she has, he or she is incapable of living life to its fullest. Hogwash!
Luckily, this is not true at all, and there are disabled people every day proving them wrong. When you hear of someone with a prosthetic leg running his first marathon or a recently blind person learning to paint beautiful scenes with only the benefit of her mind’s eye, we find ourselves in amazement, don’t we? While it is awe inspiring that these people are overcoming such tremendous barriers, considering them barriers is how the problem starts.
We are wondrous creatures, we humans. Each of us has the capability to overcome a multitude of things, be they large or small. Without letting depression overwhelm them, people can adjust to any number of mental, physical, and environmental issues that they may never have thought to possible. Fortunately for us all, both through medical advancements and clearer understanding about the mental and emotional effects of physical disabilities, getting out and enjoying life, in spite of any number of afflictions is not only possible but highly recommended.
Mickey Sarraille
Mickey Sarraille is a 50-year-old man who was raised in Lake Elsinore, California. He has been hang gliding for 28 years and doesn’t see himself stopping anytime soon. At one point in his gliding career, he was the president of the Lake Elsinore Hang Gliders Association. He not only enjoys this sport as a pastime or hobby, but Mickey also glides in national competitions. Whether he wins or loses, he is extremely proud of his accomplishments and when he’s soaring through the air, the wind beneath his wings, by his own admission, is “most free”. Mickey Sarraille is also an amputee.
When Mickey was 17 years old, he was involved in a hit and run accident while riding his motorcycle. He lost consciousness during the wreck and woke up in the hospital…to find one of his legs severed. While many would have become depressed and even angry about what fate had thrown at them, Mickey just began adjusting to the very different life he had awakened to in that hospital bed. This adjustment has been hard earned, but very successful. While he left many sports in his life behind after the accident, ones he enjoyed as a teenager, when he discovered hang gliding, he just knew he had to do it.
A number of disabled hang gliders have chosen this sport over all others simply for the amazing feeling they get being in the air. Perhaps, and this is only speculation, the loss of a limb or partial sight helped these people gain something they’d previously not seen or tapped into before. Maybe in overcoming such a tragic event, something like hang gliding didn’t seem as daunting as defying death.
If you are one such person who has survived an accident or was born with a special need that had you believing you were somehow less than others, think again! If you are considering taking up hang gliding, perhaps start flying in tandem with another person. Experience the freedom of soaring while attached to someone. After you have the hang of it, do as Mickey Sarraille did and try it on your own. Hey, you never know, you might meet up with him at a competition.
