Evo Terra (Host): Peter Berry's journey to be selected as a top alternate for the Team USA's wheelchair basketball team, hasn't been easy, but it has given him an indomitable spirit and a will to succeed. This is Pediatric Specialty Care Spotlight with Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago. I'm Evo Terra. I'm joined today by Peter Berry, patient alumni and alternate to the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team, and his brother Aaron, also a student athlete at the University of Alabama.

Hey, Peter and Aaron, welcome.

Aaron Berry: Thank you so much for having us.

Peter Berry: Thanks for having us. Glad to be here.

Host: So before we get started, I want to know from both of you, how long have you been playing basketball? And Peter, when it's your time, when did you decide you wanted to get serious enough to actually go to the Paralympics?

Peter Berry: So we started playing wheelchair basketball, during our rehab process at Shriners. So about 13 years ago. It's crazy how quickly the time has passed, but, we got into it in therapy and then we moved back home, which is Houston, Texas, and we found a local team there. And I think I speak for both of us just immediately fell in love with it.

And now 13 years later, it's allowed us to travel all across the world and it's opened so many doors and introduced us to some of the most inspiring people. So yeah, it's, it's been a blessing in disguise, a silver lining in the midst of so much chaos and misfortune, I guess.

Host: Yeah, yeah, we'll get to that. Aaron, were you basketball player before this happened?

Aaron Berry: So before the accident, I was not, I was a football player, and the three Shriners, you know, who knew that they'd be introducing us to small recreational sport that would become such an important part of our lives.

Evo Terra (Host): I can imagine. So, alright, well, hit this thing head on. As I understand it, you were both 8 and 9 years old when a car accident tragically took the lives of your parents and left you both paralyzed. Without asking you to live any of the old trauma, can you tell me a little bit about your injuries and the experience you've both had over the years with Shriners Children's?

Aaron Berry: So about 13 years ago, we were in a car accident and Peter and I both received T10 complete spinal cord injuries, leaving us paralyzed from the waist down. And I also fractured a vertebrae in my neck. So I was in a halo for a few months as well.

And then from there we were in Memorial Hermann for a couple weeks. And then from Tier Memorial Hermann, we went to Shriners where we spent about four to six months doing rehab.

Peter Berry: Just to bounce off of that, I think sustaining very similar spinal cord injuries and sharing a lived experience for the rest of our lives is a bit of a miracle. It's kind of a freak coincidence that you don't really hear about often, but it's really been a blessing to have somebody who can understand more so than anybody else in the world, kind of what you're going through. It's been a very unique experience.

Host: This was what, 13 years ago? So how long have you been under medical care? What was the recovery process like?

Peter Berry: Yeah. So July 2nd, 2011, we were on the tail end of a road trip and so in the middle of that summer, that was when we did all of our immediate therapy and the serious medical attention. And we pretty much returned to school fourth and third grade, in like October. And so the focus was always normalizing our situation and getting back and becoming independent and learning our care process.

And obviously at Shriners, we had world renowned doctors and medical attention and nurses and whatnot. So they were able to teach our family and ourselves how to be independent, how to take care of our bodies properly. And 13 years later, I mean, we're thriving. Our younger sister as well, have not only kind of survived, but we're, you know, thriving, learning our care and figuring out how to navigate the world. Aaron and I and our younger sister, we just got back from a trip to Europe and Europe is not as accessible as we have it here in the States. So just, my thing personally has always been figure it out, but I wouldn't have done that alone without family and doctors and friends and community. So.

Host: Yeah, I can only imagine that your perseverance is way higher than most people's. I want to take the conversation back to wheelchair basketball because that sure sounds like fun. Aaron, I'll ask this question of you. How fun is it? And then also contrast it with how hard is it to play?

Aaron Berry: Just for a little comparison, when I started playing wheelchair basketball, I had to throw the ball like a baseball just to hit the net. It definitely requires a lot of upper body strength. It's a super fun sport, playing over the past 13 years, both of us, we've put literal blood, sweat, and tears into the sport.

We've made huge sacrifices. You know, we've sacrificed our social lives, family events, funerals, weddings, birthday parties, a lot of our own free time to go train and to help get ourselves where we are today. It is a pretty hard sport. It requires a lot of mental concentration and mental focus.

And a very important key to the sport is communication. So it really takes a lot from all of the players working together to be mentally locked in, constantly communicating, pushing our chair, so it's a fun sport, but it does take a lot out of you.

Peter Berry: To add to that a little bit, I like to think of wheelchair basketball as like a hybrid of football and NASCAR. Sometimes if you're close enough to the court, you can actually smell the burnt rubber from the hard collisions. So it's a very, very physical demanding sport and it's physical in and of itself.

If you're quicker than somebody or stronger, you can actually completely dominate them. You can stop their chair and prevent them from moving at all. So it's a very physical sport. If you flip over, the game doesn't stop for you. You just kind of got to get up and, or your team's at a disadvantage.

And I would recommend anybody going through Shriners or anywhere, it doesn't matter where, who's maybe sustained a physical disability or born with physical limitations, to give it a shot. And if basketball is not your thing, give adapted athletics a shot. And that's something that I've seen grow over the years.

We've met families over the years and children who had absolutely zero clue that these things exist. But they're blessings that it's, you know, as Aaron has stated, it's kind of what has kept us going over the years.

Host: Yeah, well, obviously, as I mentioned previously, you're both dedicated athletes to excel at this sport. Peter, what's it like trying to make the Paralympics team?

Peter Berry: As Aaron said, it's a very difficult process. You have to try out for every tournament. And so you have to constantly be refining and enhancing your skills and what you can do on the court and your vision and IQ and everything that goes into being a well rounded ballplayer.

And it's the best talent in the world. Our U.S. men's team won a gold medal in Tokyo in, I think it was like the last Paralympics, and we're looking to do the same thing here in August in Paris. So it's a process. And I think, with the U.S. Men's team and, really just athletics in general, able bodied, adapted, it doesn't matter; you kind of have to fall in love with the process more than the result. If you're completely result oriented, there's all the possibility in the world, you're going to be let down. But if you're looking to improve day by day, you're gonna see the process work and you're gonna kind of fall in love with the small steps and everything that goes into getting better, not just the end result.

So that's the mindset I try to take in. And, I received an alternate position for Paris. But I really didn't let that kind of deter me from training or practicing as much or anything. I'm still just as needed on the team and I trained just as much as I was when I was on the team.

You know, I've made teams in the past. I was in Santiago, Chile for the Parapans. So, I think always just looking to improve and being grateful for where you're at is something that I try to just, even at times verbally remind myself.

Host: You mentioned that you're an alternate, so right now the plans are for to not travel to Paris. So what are you going to be doing while the team is off competing in Paris?

Peter Berry: I'll definitely be repping my USA gear and cheering for the team and for the guys in Paris. But, the goal is just to continue training, support from home, any way I can. Maybe text the team. Just let them know that we're supporting them from the U.S. But just same old, same old, just continue to practice.

And, we're with the guys here in Alabama right now. So working with our team here at the university in the college division. And just trying to be a leader here, I guess, is what I'll be doing during the games this year.

Host: Well let's take a minute and talk more about the University of Alabama. You're both students there. You've both said very glowing things about it. Aaron, anything you want to dig into with the University of Bama?

Aaron Berry: For sure. It is such an amazing school, such a beautiful campus. We have such amazing faculty and staff members. We have an amazing facility dedicated solely to the adapted athletics program. So we have everything that an adapted athlete could ever ask for, all at the tip of our fingers. So it's definitely something to not take for granted. It's something to appreciate and to not take for granted.

Peter Berry: I will say the University of Alabama is the only program in the country to have an adapted athletics program with our own facilities, our own resources. We're the only program that fundraises daily. And so we really make a point when we roll into the arena every day and are practicing, to make a point to be grateful. And, just be aware of how much we receive. And with that, trying to leverage our platform to spread awareness about adapted athletics, to let other people know that we're practicing just as much, if not more than our able bodied counterparts on campus. So that's something we really try make a point of, making people aware, truly how capable we are as athletes and really as student athletes because it's bigger than just basketball. And that's something our coaches really try and push.

Host: Very good information, and I'm very pleased that the university is doing so much for you guys. Peter, to wrap this up, and you can also chime in as well, Aaron; any advice that you have for others who are dealing with spinal cord injuries or any other disabilities? Just general overall advice you two successful men would give to others?

Peter Berry: There's so many lessons that Aaron and I have learned over the years. I think a couple I carry with me that stick out more. First I would tell any kid or adult, you know, it doesn't matter, who's recently sustained an injury or deals with limitations on a daily basis.

I mean, obviously it has the potential to wear you down. I mean, living with a disability of any kind is very energy taxing and a lot goes on behind the scenes that you wouldn't see. So when we show up, who knows how much it took to actually get there. And so, I would say with that, just kind of carrying this like blind faith with you, just this idea, how I think of it as like, there's light at the end of the tunnel.

And if you can't see it right now, just your journey simply isn't over. So understanding that in the early days is like really, really important. And, asking for help, using your family and your supporting cast, if you have one, hopefully. And then really just embrace your limitations. I mean, it took me years to kind of build this understanding that the things that make me different from everyone else are not bad.

I'm not different. I'm just unique. And so, as corny as it might sound, as cliche as it might sound, it's something that's very real. So really, like, embrace your disability. As Aaron and I both said earlier, it opened us up to such an incredible and beautiful world.

And there's so many things that we've learned from the people who we've met through our journey. And so embrace that. Really, really embrace that.

Host: Aaron, any points that your big brother missed?

Aaron Berry: If I were to give advice to a recently sustained spinal cord injury patient or anyone, like Peter said, who's living with everyday limitations, it's, there's outlets for everything. Like Peter said, if you haven't found your purpose, your journey's not done, but I'll admit when we first got our injury, we had no idea that wheelchair sports was a thing.

Adapted athletics was a thing. We found out through Shriners. So definitely, I mean, do your research. Figure out ways to stay involved, find activities to do, find sports to do, because I'll admit I was not a good basketball player. When I first started the sport or even before our accident, I don't even think I was that athletic. I was just very fit and in shape and I was strong. I liked to play football cause it was physical, but I wasn't very aerodynamic. I was just big. So, over the years, training, it's it's not only kept me in shape, but it's helped me form a sense of self discipline and routine, and it's taught me how to form good habits.

So, definitely figure out ways to stay physically active and help keep your body and your mind in shape and in a healthy mental state.

Host: Excellent. Peter, Aaron, thank you very much for your inspiring story and also teaching us about the world of adapted athletics. Thanks.

Aaron Berry: Evo, thank you so much.

Peter Berry: Yeah, thank you.

Host: Once again, that was Peter and Aaron Berry, patient alumni and student athletes at the University of Alabama.

For more inspirational stories and to learn more about spinal cord injuries, please visit ShrinersChildrens.org. And if you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out the full library for topics of interest to you. I'm Evo Terra, and this has been Pediatric Specialty Care Spotlight with Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago.

Thanks for listening.