{"id":1252,"date":"2011-07-05T15:02:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T15:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=1252"},"modified":"2017-07-17T16:08:43","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T16:08:43","slug":"going-for-the-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2011\/07\/05\/going-for-the-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Going for the gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1257″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” css_animation=”bounceInDown”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1500307630103{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”]Article\u00a0by Tech. Sgt. David Speicher, 175th Wing Public Affairs<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”bounceIn”]<\/p>\n

On July 5, 2011 Senior Airman Gideon L. Connelly, repair and reclamation crew chief, 175th Maintenance Squadron<\/a>, was involved in a motorcycle accident in Baltimore County with serious damage to his left leg. The doctors told the Maryland Air National Guardsman if he kept his leg, it would leave him with limitations to what he could do. However, if the leg was replaced with a prosthesis, his abilities would significantly increase.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 16, 2011, Connelly chose to have the leg removed below the knee.<\/p>\n

\u201c(When the accident happened) I was upset. I didn\u2019t think I would be able to return to work. I didn\u2019t understand how it would affect my life. I was scared,\u201d said Connelly. His friends were scared but supportive. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know how to help. My family stuck by my side and is very supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connelly started a rehabilitation process to walk, and then run with the goal of staying in the military.<\/p>\n

Around Thanksgiving 2011, he started walking and progressed to running in October 2012.<\/p>\n

Running means a lot to him. \u201cI want to inspire people. It is a great opportunity. I am blessed to come back and do what I can do now after a horrific accident,\u201d said Connelly.<\/p>\n

Before the accident, he lifted a lot of weights and did some distance running for physical training, now he runs sprint races.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Connelly competed in the Texas Regional Games (Paralympic games that are used for qualifying for the national events) April 13-14, 2013. He competed in the men\u2019s t44 (below the knee amputation) 100m and 200m races, receiving two gold medals. His 100m time qualified him for the Paralympic Nationals in San Antonio, Texas June 14-16. He will however, compete in the Endeavor Games<\/a> at the University of Central Oklahoma June 6-9 to make a second attempt at qualifying in the 200m for the Paralympic Nationals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal for now is to make the nationals. In the time frame I have, I will probably not win nationals. I am a beginner at running and at this point I do what I can do,\u201d said Connelly. His goal is to win nationals in the future with the ultimate goal of competing in the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to stay in the military and compete for the Air Force team. I would like to work down at Walter Reed as a physical therapist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Most wounded military members with amputations go to Walter Reed Military Hospital<\/a> in Bethesda, Md. to receive and learn how to use their prosthesis.<\/p>\n

To stay in the military, \u201cI had to do a Air Force physical fitness test and prove to medical personnel that I can do my job without assistance. The worst part was the paperwork. I had to prove myself to the base medical review board,\u201d said\u00a0Connelly. His next step is to be medically worldwide deployable.<\/p>\n

Lt. Col. Tom Donnellan, deputy commander, 175th Maintenance Group, talked about Connelly\u2019s progress to stay in the military. \u201cHe has to do what all Airmen would do to stay in the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine waking up one morning missing a limb. He has been able to overcome it. The military has seen a lot of this,\u201d said Donnellan. \u201cLosing your limb affects your whole life. He was in good physical shape to begin with. He had the mental capability to deal with the accident. He trained to do his job with his limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a young troop, and no one wants this to happen. He is squared away and knows what he needs to do to stay in the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He is also participating in a study by the University of Florida on prosthesis. The study helps develop the devices not only for him, but also for others who need the devices.<\/p>\n

He is testing three mechanical feet. They put him on an obstacle course that the Tampa police Special Weapons And Tactics Team uses which includes walking\/running on treadmills. The performance of the foot is then evaluated under these conditions. During these tests, his vital signs are monitored to see how his body works with the devices. \u201cThe study is to see how the different feet perform in stress-related conditions,\u201d said Connelly.<\/p>\n

Donnellan likes that Connelly working to improve prosthesis that both civilians and military members may use in the future. \u201cI hope by working the kinks out of the new prosthesis, it will benefit him and others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Connelly has received support from a lot of people, one person stands out \u2014 Tech. Sgt. Kandyce O\u2019Meally, a maintenance management data analyst in the 135th Maintenance Operation Flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw him walking around with a prosthetic leg and I didn\u2019t know who he was. I approached him and asked him if I could ask him a few questions. We started talking, and I discovered he was into track. I learned he wanted to go to Rio in 2016 \u2014 the Paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,\u201d said O\u2019Meally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked how he was going to do it and what his plans were. In the conversation, I let him know I had some contacts in the track world from when I trained during college,\u201d she said. She got him in contact with someone on the Paralympic committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe helps me out at times when I need it. I have a lot of paperwork to fill out, and she helps me out with that. She is a great person. She helps me out when I am down. She gives me motivation. She is a great-hearted person,\u201d said Connelly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a hard-working kid. I see a kid with a lot of motivation and drive. He is never down. Life dealt him a hand, not a bad hand, not a good hand. Just a hand, and he plays it well,\u201d said O\u2019Meally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she has been very beneficial to him. She has given him the backup, support and guidance to get where he is today,\u201d said Donnellan.<\/p>\n

Donnellan summed up Connelly\u2019s potential, \u201cIt\u2019s whatever he wants to make of it. He is on the right track. He can go as far as he wants to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connelly has good advice for anyone who has lost a limb. \u201cKeep your head up. Don\u2019t let anything discourage you. It is a mind over body experience. If you keep your head in the right place, you can do anything you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On July 5, 2011 Senior Airman Gideon L. Connelly, repair and reclamation crew chief, 175th Maintenance Squadron, was involved in a motorcycle accident in Baltimore County with serious damage to his left leg. The doctors told the Maryland Air National Guardsman if he kept his leg, it would leave him with limitations to what he could do. However, if the leg was replaced with a prosthesis, his abilities would significantly increase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":1257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,79,80,73,75,81,82,76,77,78],"class_list":["post-1252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-175th-maintenance-squadron","tag-accident","tag-air-force-physical-fitness-test","tag-gideon-l-connelly","tag-maryland-air-national-guard","tag-paralympic-games","tag-paralympic-nationals","tag-prosthesis","tag-rehabilitation","tag-running"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1252"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1266,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions\/1266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}