Erik and Jeff chat with Mike Savicki, about his incredible athletic career and his life as a husband, father, Veteran, Advocate, Teacher, and small business owner. Mike was always ambitious and was in training to become a U.S. Naval F-14 fighter pilot when he was suddenly derailed. He sustained a severe spinal cord injury when he dove into the ocean and after a long recovery, was determined to regain his independence and thrive as a wheelchair user. Our hosts speak with Mike about the lessons he’s learned along the way.
In November 1990., while training to become a U.S. Navy F-14 fighter pilot, Mike Savicki sustained a severe spinal cord injury after diving into the ocean. In an instant, he went from being a fit, active, promising Naval officer – commissioned as the top-flight candidate in the nation’s number one ROTC college graduating class – to a quadriplegic who was challenged with learning to live life again using a wheelchair.
As he regained his independence, Mike earned an MBA, delivered the commencement address, and became involved in wheelchair sports. He is a 22-time finisher (and five-time division winner) of the prestigious BAA Boston Marathon (making him the only person to have completed the marathon on foot and subsequently in a wheelchair) and has earned more than 100 gold medals in the National Wheelchair Veterans Games. In 2009, he became the first quadriplegic to finish the 70.3-mile Beach to Battleship Half Ironman Triathlon.
From there he became deputy director of World T.E.A.M. Sports, a non-profit for people with and without disabilities, served on numerous non-profit boards, and started his own communications company. He is also a high school teacher, a husband, a father, an advocate for disabled veterans, and a proponent of getting those with disabilities back on the road in adapted vehicles.
Savicki married in 2010, and he and his wife, Sarah, welcomed a baby girl, Caroline, into their lives shortly thereafter. Overcoming adversity, marathons, triathlons, degrees, companies, teams, books, magazines, speeches, advocacy efforts in DC, and fighter jets? That's nothing, he says. The real challenge? Keeping up with a kiddo whose life is unfolding each and every day.
Resources:
Check out Mike’s website