You may remember hearing about Antonio Dowels, a former Riverview High School student who sustained a spinal cord injury after being involved in a car accident in 2007. A sophomore at the time, Antonio was driving home after a track meet when he fell asleep behind the wheel and was involved in a car accident that changed his life forever. The high school football and track athlete sustained a C5 spinal cord injury which left him with no feeling from the waist down and limited feeling in his arms. Doctors told him he was lucky to have survived the crash.
Despite sustaining this catastrophic injury, Tony did not change his positive attitude and became determined to succeed and achieve his goals. After months in rehabilitation, he relearned how to perform daily tasks and regained a sense of independence.
And we are so happy to see where life has taken this inspirational young man. Antonio recently earned his Bachelors degree from the University of Florida and plans to attend law school in pursuit of upholding justice, fairness and equality in the sports industry.
But now he needs the help of the local community because he has entered The National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association’s (NMEDA) contest to win a wheelchair accessible van for transportation to school, events and speaking engagements. The contest is being held in recognition of National Mobility Awareness Month to show the public that people with disabilities can live mobile, active lifestyles.
This is the second year that Antonio has entered the contest and it would make us so happy to see him become one of this year’s winners. To us, this contest means more than helping him with transportation. It means helping him gain a greater sense of independence. He has come so far throughout his recovery and allowing him to do things like run errands, attend class or go to sporting events without depending on others would be incredible.
So we encourage you all to vote for Antonio at www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/antonio-dowels-riverview-fl/ and help him win a wheelchair accessible van. Creating an account and voting will only take two minutes of your time, and could change his life forever. Antonio is truly deserving of this and it will make a great difference as he prepares to start the next chapter of his life.
