The newspaper story had listed a contact phone number so I called them. The following Wednesday I met Leslie and her dad, Ed, for lunch and I was invited to observe the next ATOU presentation and the rest is history. It not only seems like a long time ago ... it was a long time ago, more than 10 years ago!

After living my entire life in the fast lane I had suddenly became 100% disabled and the best therapy I discovered was talking about my situation. I joined ATOU because of the therapeutic value I received but after several speaking sessions I noticed my audience (usually 3rd to 5th grade school kids) changing before my eyes. The kids gained as much from the program as I did!

That fast lane I mentioned ... I had a good education, (I stress the importance of education to the kids) which enabled me to become an Officer in the United States Marine Corps and spend a fantastic career flying the Douglas A4 Skyhawk. Imagine a 24-year-old kid with a government credit card and a supersonic jet ... aircraft carriers, supersonic flight ... rock n roll, hair on fire! And they even paid me!

The flying continued but now it was fire bombers during the summer fire season ... the Grumman S2, PBY Catalina, B17 Flying Fortress, C119 Boxcar, PB4Y2 Privateer became tools of the trade. Winters consisted of snow skiing but occasionally a well paid flying safari in other countries would happen. I have flown through Central and South America; I have seen the Galapagos and Cocos islands from the left seat of a PBY Catalina.

I have done things that will never happen again ... Tegus, Honduras I ease the throttle forward, the R2800 responds as the F4U Corsair lifts off the runway, gear up, flaps up. I keep my Corsair on the deck and soon I see 300 knots, I smile, the sky is mine.

Eventually the airlines looked favorably on me and soon a Captain's seat with AirCal and eventually American Air Lines became a reality. That airline career was cut short in 1993.

The fast lane, speed (never enough) was my life. I built my own Pitts Special, flew aerobatic contests and air shows and in my spare time built racecars. September 1993 I had just won the bi-plane silver championship at the Reno National Air Races, the following day I am off to the Bonneville Salt Flats to meet my racecar partner and try out our new racecar, an E Fuel Lakester or E/FL. Two days later, as the car accelerated towards 300mph something happened. All I know is that I awoke two weeks later to find the car had rolled many times and the roll cage had scraped my hands off.

Suddenly I am, 100% disabled, my world has changed forever.  Yet life would get better every day!

Not wanting to sit and watch paint dry I was soon back in the air. I became the first pilot in the world authorized to fly with two myo-electric prosthetic hands. I was back flying (and winning) aerobatic contests; I was in demand to fly aerobatic air shows. I even spent a month flying the aerobatic air show circuit in South Africa!

Busy, busy … touring the country as a speaker for my prosthetic company and volunteer work with ATOU seemed to occupy more and more of my time. It was at an ATOU function that I met good friend Nancy and her service dog Union. Soon a Golden Retriever was at my side and my life changed forever. My ATOU presentations now include service dogs and to date 'Magy' has participated in over 650 ATOU presentations to about 20,000 kids. Several volunteer ATOU speakers and several other people now have service dogs ... all because of MAGY!

Magy has become my shadow but on weekends she wears another hat, the hat of an agility champion. Soon after Magy's arrival I was watching 'Animal Planet' on TV and first saw the sport of agility. We soon began lessons followed by trials. She has earned over 35 agility titles and last summer a Canine Performance Event Trial Championship or C-ATCH. She is the first service dog to attain championship level and together we are the first service dog / disabled handler team to attain an agility championship. Life really does get better every day.

People often ask me what ATOU really does.  I simply say, "we bridge the gap where teachers and parents often fail, because if there are no disabilities seen in the classroom or home, the youngster gets no exposure to the disabled world. We are all the same; some of us just use different tools to accomplish the same goals".

Life really does get better every day!