DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan’s Wheelchair Basketball Team Wins National Championship

DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan’s (RIM) wheelchair basketball team, the Detroit Diehards, are the 2013 National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s (NWBA) Division III National Champions. The team defeated Tampa Bay in the finals Sunday, April 21 during the NWBA tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the team’s fourth appearance in the tournament and their first national championship win.

The Detroit Diehards were one of 24 Division III teams competing in the tournament held April 18-21, and the only team to go undefeated during tournament play.

RIM’s 8-member team is comprised of athletes with physical disabilities, aged 18 to 40 from throughout southeast Michigan. The team was 10-4 during regular season play and was ranked third going into the tournament.
Several team members also received special honors. Eighteen year-old, double amputee, Jesus Villa, who hit a game winning shot during the semi-final game, was named MVP of the tournament. Hurie Johnson was named to the 1^st Team All-Tournament and Kevin Konfara and Deon Vereen were named to the 2^nd Team All-Tournament.

The NWBA is comprised of over 200 wheelchair basketball teams within twenty-two conferences. Founded in 1948, the NWBA today consists of men's, women's, intercollegiate, and youth teams throughout the United States of America and Canada.

RIM has been sponsoring the Detroit Diehards since 2002. The team is supported through grants, donations, and fundraising events such as RIM’s annual “Celebrity Wheelchair Basketball Game,” (www.celebritywheelchairbasketball.org)

DMC’s Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan is one of the nation’s largest hospitals specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. The Institute is home to many innovative programs, including the Center for Spinal Cord Injury Recovery, a world-class facility designed to implement and study innovative treatments in spinal cord injury recovery. RIM is one of eight hospitals operated by the Detroit Medical Center (DMC). The DMC is proud to be the Official Healthcare Services Provider of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Red Wings, and Detroit Pistons.

Paralympic Medalist, Jeremy Campbell, to visit DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan

DMC Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) is pleased to welcome Paralympic gold medalist, Jeremy Campbell, to Detroit. Jeremy will be speaking to patients, staff and athletes with disabilities at RIM on Wednesday, April 10 from 12-1:30 pm in RIM’s auditorium, located at 261 Mack, Detroit, MI. The event is free and open to the public.

Campbell, from Perryton, TX, was born without a right fibula and had is lower leg amputated when he was only 16 months old. The youngest of three brothers, Campbell grew up in an athletic family and wanted to follow in his brothers’ athletic footsteps, even if he had just one foot to do it.

He spent most of his entire life competing against able-bodied athletes, first as an All-State football player in high school and then in other sports.  As a member of the U.S. National Track & Field Paralympic Team, he has achieved world-wide success and broken numerous records.

Campbell, who competes with a carbon-fiber blade attached to his right leg, is the first disabled athlete to break 60 meters in the 1.5-kilo discus. He set a world record at the Endeavor Games with a throw of 63.45 meters (208 feet, 2 inches).
Campbell earned a pair of gold medals in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing in the discus and pentathlon, and most recently he won gold again in the discus at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Not only is Jeremy training for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, he has also set his eyes on qualifying and competing in the Olympic Games. Off the track, Jeremy prides himself on giving back in the community and being an active role model for those with a disability to show others that no dream is ever too big or out of reach. 

In recognition of his accomplishments, Campbell will receive “The Spirit of da Vinci Award, ” and deliver the keynote speech at the National MS Society’s 2013 da Vinci Awards^® gala, Thursday, April 11, at the Ford Conference and Event Center in Dearborn, Michigan. 
The da Vinci Awards^® are an international forum of recognition for the most innovative developments in adaptive and assistive technologies.  Inventors and innovators from around the world will compete to win the da Vinci Award in each of five award categories, with the winners announced live at the April 11 gala.

For more information about the da Vinci Awards, visit http://www.davinciawards.org/