WINONA LAKE – Grace College Chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children will host a World Champion Ironman and double amputee in February. The event is Feb. 1 at 10:30 a.m. at the Orthopedic Capital Center. Scott Rigsby will kick off the Transition Exploration Day on the campus of Grace College. Despite the fact that Rigsby lost both legs when he was 18 years old in a collision with a semi, Rigsby now holds world records for double below-the-knee amputees in the Full Marathon, Half Ironman and International Distance Triathlon. He also was part of the 2006 USA Triathlon Team and was the first double-amputee on prosthetics in the world to finish an Ironman distance triathlon. He is now involved in speaking events around the country and counseling wounded U.S. troops, having started the Scott Rigsby Foundation. The foundation is “designed to inspire, educate, and enable amputees and all challenged athletes around the world, and is opening new doors for challenged athletes to meet their personal goals.” The event also offers an invitation to high school students with disabilities in the area to explore post-secondary options that are available in the community. Students will have the opportunity to visit a Transition Expo where area agencies, educational institutions and businesses will have display booths of opportunities and resources available as the students plan for post-graduation. “We are very excited to have such an exceptional role model visit our students,” said Dr. Cheryl Bremer, faculty advisor for the Council for Exceptional Children at Grace. “He is an inspiration for anyone who has a goal that seems out of reach,” she said. For more information, contact Nina Ferry at ferrync@grace.edu or Bremer at bremercl@grace.edu
