Hi everyone,

If you’ve heard my story, you are probably well aware that I got my inspiration from other physically challenged athletes and watching so many heroic stories of our wounded service men and women.  I thought I’d share with you a recent email I received from a wounded soldier’s wife.  He is the reason I do what I do.  Keep “Doing the Unthinkable” and spread this challenge to everyone you meet.  Thank you to RC for sharing this with me- I am honored to have met you and your husband.  You are my heroes and an inspiration to us all!

Thanks

Scott 

Greetings Scott, My name is (RC) and I am writing you at midnight with tears of joy with a long-overdue “THANKS” from my husband Steve and I. Your story has inspired my husband to “do the unthinkable” and in the process it has given him a personal goal a new sight on life. We first heard your story during your Ironman training and little did we know that our paths or lives would ever cross in person, but they did…Both my husband and I are active duty Marines and in 2006 he was injured during his 1st deployment to Iraq, he is on the road to recovery but it has been an emotional challenge for both of us. This past May at the 3rd Annual Hope for the warriors run aboard Camp Lejeune, NC. I was a volunteer and participant for the event and my husband and I attended the pre race dinner where we had the opportunity to hear your story in person. Before meeting you that day my husband never shown any desire to ride a bike nor did he even own one, but this did not discourage him and within days we were researching road bikes on the internet. We settled with a mountain bike to start off before committing to a huge investment. About a week after purchasing his mountain bike, while at the store browsing for cycling magazines for tips on training, he resorted to very last copy of the last cycling magazine left on the shelf when he opened the magazine, it was the page with your story on it. He called to tell me of all the coincidences that had occurred and I could hear the (long overdue) enthusiasm in his voice. Long Story Short (I’m really trying to be brief)…

Your story has brought life back into my husband’s life and he feels it only appropriate for him to do the same for someone else that may be struggling to due to their physical or combat related injuries. He has not established a goal amount but has set his sights on cycling from his hometown, Kokomo Indiana, to Camp Lejene and?arriving in Lejeune the day prior to the wounded warrior run, unfortunately I will be unable to support him in person as I will be on the 5th month of my 1st 12 month tour to Iraq. This week he made his first trip to speak with the Indiana Businessman that has offered to sponsor and support him in his efforts to raise awareness and funds for programs in support of combat injured veterans. I know that it would mean a lot to him to hear from you again, since the time he got to meet you at the Race this past May. Best wishes Scott and thank you for bringing the life, passion and drive back into our lives…I had been worried and tried not to convince myself that since my husband sustained his injuries that his true self was probably also lost forever. Keep spreading your message! -RC

With his short, cropped hair, mustache and goatee, the brawny man stands out in the crowd of men and women wandering around near Lake Coeur d’Alene.

It’s a few days to the Ford Ironman Coeur d’Alene, but Rigsby is not here to compete like last year. He’s here to help.

“My purpose for being here is to volunteer in any way I can at the Ironman,” the 39-year-old said. “So many people have been so good to me here. I really feel like it’s my second home.”

He quickly rattles off a list of people and businesses, Jim Headley, Rick and Roxanne Gunther, Mike and Jenni Gaertner, the owners of Vertical Earth, and Robideaux Motors, as just some of those who have helped him by offering a place to stay, fixing a bike and providing a car to use.

“The community has made an investment in me,” he said. “I want to do what I can to give back.”

Since Rigsby became the first double-amputee to finish the Ironman championship in Hawaii last year, he has been on the run in different directions and received numerous awards and is up for more honors, too.

They include:

• The 2007 Physically Challenged Athlete of the Year by Competitor Magazine.

• The 2008 Male Star of the Year by the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame.

• The 2007 American Society of Plastic Surgeons Patient of Courage Award.

• Grand Marshal of the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta Festival of Trees Christmas parade.

An inspirational, six-minute film, “Unthinkable: The Scott Rigsby Story,” has been produced — “It’s a way for me to honor God and encourage people that faith does work,” he said — and a book on his experiences is in the works.

He’s even involved with a project at Georgia Tech to develop a center so people who have recently undergone surgery “will have a place to begin their journey for an active lifestyle.”

There would be affiliates across the country to support their long-term needs. There will be a special focus on the wounded vets as well. The center will also use these studies to advance training equipment and prosthetics for amputees.

He’s also one of 10 finalists for the Energizer “Keep Going” Hall of Fame “to showcase all those people who have the same perseverance, never-quit spirit and positive attitude as the Energizer Bunny.”

The winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize plus a $5,000 donation to their favorite charity.

“I’m hoping my second family here will vote for me and I’m hoping Ironman folks will vote for me,” Rigsby said.

“When I saw the Energizer contest promotion, the “Keep Going” theme seemed to exemplify everything Scott Rigsby represents,” said Scott Johnson, Rigsby’s manager and lead adviser to the Scott Rigsby Foundation. “His accomplishments are truly phenomenal, and are only surpassed by his personal mission to inspire others to overcome their personal challenges.”

While the awards and accolades are nice, it’s not what motivates Rigsby. What drives him, he says, is the chance to share his story with children, students, other amputees and wounded veterans and inspire them to face adversity with determination and courage.

“Maybe they all can look at me and say, you know what? Life is tough, but if this guy can make it, then I can make it,” he said.

Rigsby was just 18 when he was thrown from a truck while working a summer job and dragged more than 380 feet under a three-ton trailer.

After losing his right leg, he endured more than 26 surgeries and $2 million in medical bills in 10 years before finally deciding to “free” himself from being a professional patient and remove his left leg.

He struggled to set a course for his life and suffered years of chronic pain, depression, and drug addiction.

In 2005, he was living with his parents, couldn’t pay his bills and was going deeper into debt each day and facing what seemed to be insurmountable odds.

“I had no hope, no destiny. I didn’t have any reason to live,” he said.

It was in January 2006 — with no formal swim training, he didn’t own a bike and had never run farther than a mile on a set of prosthetics — he set his sights on Ironman.

“What I had to do was focus on the things I actually could do,” he said.

So he started running, first around a parking lot to build his endurance.

“I didn’t want anybody to see me trying to run,” he said.

He tried some shorter triathlons to test himself, and came to the Lake City last year to try and become the first double amputee to complete an Ironman.

Rigsby made it through the 2.4-mile swim, crashed about 65 miles into the 112-mile bike ride, but managed to finish. He started the run, but had to drop out after about 13 miles.

He was disappointed, but not deterred from pushing on.

“Failure is not final. It’s just part of the process of getting to the finish line,” he said. “To me, this race is as significant as me finishing Hawaii.”

And while he reached the finish at Kona, Rigsby said “it was really about a starting line.”

“Ironman has allowed me into places someone like me normally wouldn’t have been able to go, to do things I wouldn’t have been able to do,” he said.

The race changed his life, he says, but “training for the Ironman saved my life. I feel like God saved me and spared my life for a purpose.”

Rigsby is not shy about sharing his faith.

“You take an ordinary guy like me and place it in hands of an extraordinary God, and He does amazing things,” he said.

He doesn’t worry about any troubles that wait, and in fact, jokes about what he endures.

During a short triathlon in April, he had trouble on the swim because his wetsuit was too tight on his neck, the cleats came off on his prosthetic feet during the bike ride and he had to pedal 18 miles with one leg, and experimental, curved carbon feet were “trashed” about three miles into the run and he had to stop and use duct tape to hold them together.

And when those things happen, he shrugs his big shoulders, smiles and just laughs.

“If you look at the race it parallels life. You’re trying to get to some place. Sometimes things are going smoothly, sometimes you have people beating you over the head. You can’t stop, you can’t rest. That hourglass of life is ticking.

“It’s all about trying to do everything you can to get to the finish line,” he said. “It’s all about having an attitude that whatever’s thrown at me, I’ll overcome it.”

Wow.  If you have not heard of the Ron Clark Academy, you should take time to read about this incredible school at www.ronclarkacademy.com.  I had the priveledge of speaking there on June 6, 2008 to a group of 5th and 6th graders.  Ron Clark had a dream to change the way kids were being educated, to make it fun and demanding at the same time.  Through his vision, hundreds kids from low income circumstances will have a great opportunity to receive the best education possible and travel to 6 continents….all before 8th grade!

I was overwhelmed by these kids, they were so attentitive, polite and well spoken.  Funny how they actually eneded up inspiring me, and no, I am not smarter than these 5th graders!  Check out these photos and see that I am now Ron Clark Academy “Slide Certified.”

Do the Unthinkable!

Scott 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Scott Johnson, Scott Rigsby Foundation (770) 634-9004

June 12, 2008 — If you think running a marathon or completing a endurance triathlon to change the world is unthinkable, don’t tell Scott Rigsby.  The Ironman triathlete, also a double amputee, already holds several world records and doesn’t see an end in sight.  He just “Keeps Going” and the people at Energizer, like thousands around the world, have been equally inspired by Scott.  That’s why he has been nominated as one of 10 finalists for the Energizer “Keep Going” Hall of Fame.  

Scott was surprised by the Energizer Bunny while speaking to 5^th grade and 6^th grade students at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta.  “I was in shock,” said Rigsby, “and being there with Ron Clark and these incredible students made it even more enjoyable.  Just being a finalist with all the other nominees is a great honor.”   Scott, while still competing in endurance triathlons, is focused on building the Scott Rigsby Foundation and performing motivation speaking to corporations, wounded veterans, and student groups across the nation with a message of “Doing the Unthinkable.”      Voting starts June 12, 2008 by visiting the Energizer website at www.energizer.com/halloffame and lasts until July 25, 2008. The winner will be announced in August.