Kismet leads veteran to athletic achievement

Nov. 24—HENDERSON — A chance encounter led Henderson native Charles Powell to a bronze medal.

The veteran of the Vietnam War enlisted when he was just 17 in an attempt to beat the draft, he said. He also wanted education in mechanics. During his service, he got into a truck accident that left his spine injured in three places. For years, those injuries got progressively worse, leading to irreparable nerve damage and no feeling in one leg. He had to use a wheelchair for some years.

That was, until he underwent a 20-hour surgery at a Durham hospital that sought to reverse some of that damage last year. Doctors rebuilt his spine and installed hardware along its length. Two days later, Powell woke up and was sent to McGuire Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia shortly thereafter, where he spent two months relearning how to walk.

During a therapy session, he caught a glance at a jersey in a display case. It belonged to a participant in the National Veteran's Wheelchair Games, an Olympic-style event intended for veterans who have to use wheelchairs.

Powell's goal for therapy was to get back to doing what he used to do — being active, playing sports, so on. His therapist was a coach for a team participating in the games and was always looking for new athletes. It was a done deal.

"Everything is ordained," Powell said.

He travelled to the far-flung Portland, Oregon with fellow members of the Mid-Atlantic Team by air back in July. Powell competed in the shooting competition, firing a little .177 caliber, carbon dioxide-powered air rifle at six targets. He earned 488 points out of a possible 600, bringing home the bronze.

He made a rookie mistake, he said — he accidentally pulled the trigger twice, losing 20 points.

"That is something that I will carry with me next year," Powell said. "That will be emblazoned in my mind."

Yes, Powell's athletic career is just getting started, he said. The winter games in Colorado next March and the wheelchair games in New Orleans, Louisiana in July are both on his radar. He also wants to expand his participation to other sports, like skiing, basketball, softball, pickleball and others.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said. "I'm getting to do things I used to do when I was very mobile."

The impact the games have had on Powell's life are twofold. One of those is, of course, physical. Sports are a good workout — he returns from practice "wore out, tired."

"If you think it's hard running around trying to play these games," said Powell, "you really need to try it from a wheelchair."

The second benefit is social.

"I have really enjoyed it, not just the games, but the practice," said Powell. "Being a part of the team, there's a lot of fellowship and camaraderie. We laugh, joke, have fun, get together and eat together. We're very close.

"It's given me an opportunity that I would not have had if I had never seen that jersey on the wall. I believe everything happens for a reason."

At one point, he was depressed about his circumstances.

"This has really lifted me up," he said.

As for his injuries, his nerves have regenerated as much as they're going to. Though not completely healed, he's still doing "tremendously better" than he used to. That can be attributed to the medical professionals who performed the surgery as well as McGuire Medical Center.

Powell recalled seeing one young Navy veteran at the clinic who was walking using a futuristic exoskeleton. He had later found out that the man had once been completely paralyzed from the neck down.

"Some amazing things happen in that hospital," Powell said.

When he isn't playing sports, Powell works for the Vance County Soil and Water Conservation District as vice-chair. That's an environmental-oriented organization that seeks, in summary, to prevent another Dust Bowl by protecting soil quality and preventing it from washing by way of greenways, breaking up agricultural fields into smaller plots and more.