An airplane accident may have left Curt Carrell, 47, paralyzed
from the waist down, but it hasn’t kept him out of the skies.
Hollister – An airplane accident may have left Curt Carrell, 47, paralyzed from the waist down, but it hasn’t kept him out of the skies.
“I love being in the air,” said Carrell, a Novato resident. “I crave aerobatics. It’s just part of the visual sensation and physical sensation.”
On Friday afternoon, Carrell got a chance to fly once again on a glider plane at Hollister Municipal Airport. His flight was possible because the nonprofit organization Accessible Events, based in San Jose, provides various recreation activities for individuals with physical disabilities living in the greater Bay Area.
Ten people with Accessible Events took to the skies. Drew Pearce, owner of Bay Area Glider Rides, provided the glider use for the day.
“We enjoy getting guys out here and getting them to do something they don’t normally do,” Pearce said.
Richard Patterson of San Jose started Accessible Events with Steve Lyon and Marv Tuttle in 2004 as a way to provide camaraderie for people with physical disabilities and allow them to see what kind of activities are possible.
“For people with acute injuries, we want them to know that life’s not over. It’s changed, but it’s not over,” Patterson said. “It gives you new hope.”
Patterson said he often sees a change in people after they get an opportunity to do something they hadn’t previously thought was possible with their disability.
After a family member of one of the 10 people who flew Friday thanked him effusively for the flight, Patterson said that is exactly why he helped form the group.
“That’s what makes it so great. People are going home with stories to tell. It’s a different perspective,” Patterson said.
The group has gone flying on the gliders several times. They also go scuba diving, whale watching and to comedy clubs.
Accessible Events is paid for primarily through the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center Foundation and donations from the other organizations with which it works. Pearce donated his gliders for use, and the pilots, from the Hollister Gliding Club and Bay Area Soaring Associates, donated their time as well.
The nonprofit organization serves more than 400 people in the greater Bay Area who take part in the events.
This experience is priceless for most of the people, Patterson said.
“Once they’ve had the experience of being told, ‘No, you probably can’t do those activities you did previously,'” Patterson said, “and then they get the opportunity to go fly (and) they come down with a whole different perspective.
“They get to know what’s possible. That’s what turns things around for the individual.”
