I am very pleased to announce and inform you that RE/MAX Prestige will be sponsoring, Erik Corbett of Methuen, at this coming weekends X-Games. He is truly an amazing person and we wish him well in his races. This is a true story of someone overcoming all obstacles and having a great attitude along the way. Sometimes we need to be reminded that we can do whatever we really want. We can achieve anything we really want. And we can make differences in peoples lives if we choose.
I am also very honored to say that Erik is my cousin and has been an inspiration to me ever since his accident 10 years ago this weekend. He never once felt sorry for himself. Never asked anyone for anything. He has turned an unbelievably difficult situation into a life that most all of us could only dream about. I would say that his accomplishments are amazing - but knowing him - I would expect nothing less. I am very proud of Erik and I wish him all the best.
Please read the story below that was in the Lowell Sun yesterday.
Andy
UMass Lowell graduate Erik Corbett is excited to compete this week in his second Winter X Games. By Barry Scanlon, bscanlon@lowellsun.com
I am also very honored to say that Erik is my cousin and has been an inspiration to me ever since his accident 10 years ago this weekend. He never once felt sorry for himself. Never asked anyone for anything. He has turned an unbelievably difficult situation into a life that most all of us could only dream about. I would say that his accomplishments are amazing - but knowing him - I would expect nothing less. I am very proud of Erik and I wish him all the best.
Please read the story below that was in the Lowell Sun yesterday.
Andy
UMass Lowell graduate Erik Corbett is excited to compete this week in his second Winter X Games. By Barry Scanlon, bscanlon@lowellsun.com
The Methuen native finished fifth last year in the MonoskierCross event. JAMIE GEMMITI/THE CONWAY DAILY SUN
To order this photo please visit our MyCapture site.
LOWELL -- His first practice run at his first Winter X Games left him in the emergency room with concussion-like symptoms and seven stitches under his right eye.
Leave it to Erik Corbett to put a rosy spin on his injuries last winter, which included a black eye.
"The ESPN cameras seemed to like that," the 2005 UMass Lowell graduate said with a chuckle. "I received a little face time then. It made for a good story line. They used a couple of close-ups of me."
Corbett, 30, was featured on ESPN last winter because he didn't quit. He didn't leave Aspen, Colo., and return to his Glen, N.H., home. He may be disabled -- the result of spinal-cord injuries he received in a 2000 car crash -- but Corbett is far from a quitter.
Quitting is not in the Methuen native's DNA.
"Nothing stops him," his mother, Susan Corbett, said. "He just goes and goes. He's fearless. Before his accident he was kind of quiet and withdrawn. Now he's found a passion.
"Don't tell him he can't do something," she added.
Corbett finished fifth during the 2009 Winter X Games in MonoskierCross, a unique event in disabled athletics.
Corbett uses a monoski to compete. A monoski consists of a bucket seat and a single ski. In Aspen, Corbett will be one of 12 disabled athletes vying for the title.
The top eight qualify to compete Saturday which, ironically, is the 10th anniversary of the car crash which changed his life.
On that fateful day, at about 8 a.m.,
after leaving a friend's home, a groggy Corbett -- he said he hadn't slept in about 24 hours -- drove his Jeep Wrangler into a road sign off a secluded road in Rutland, Vt.
"That's about all I know," he said. "The details are a little fuzzy."
Corbett, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, broke two vertebrae in his back, a shoulder blade and an arm.
He spent a week at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., and then was transferred to a rehab center in Woburn, Mass., where he spent three months.
His life would never be the same. Barring a medical breakthrough, he says it's likely he'll never walk again.
Corbett doesn't think back to Jan. 30, 2000, very often. Maybe it's because he's always looking forward.
He has told his family that if a miracle doesn't occur, he's OK with remaining in a wheelchair.
"He's very comfortable with who he is. We're extremely proud of him," his mother said. "We could never imagine 10 years ago ... him doing this."
The "this" Susan Corbett was referring to was her son's participation in the Winter X Games.
But she could easily have been talking about his job as the program director of AbilityPLUS at Attitash, a New Hampshire ski resort. In that capacity, Corbett works with disabled skiers of all abilities.
Or she could have been referring to his entrepreneurial spirit, like last summer when he became the owner of a seafood store in Glen.
Or the fact that he's involved in waterskiing and cycling instruction. Corbett was so busy last summer that he canceled his cable since he was rarely home.
"He makes the rest of us look bad," Susan Corbett said.
Erik Corbett grew up in Methuen and spent his freshman, sophomore and junior years at Methuen High. Prior to his senior year, he transferred to Troy Academy in Poultney, Vt., and quickly fell in love with the surrounding mountains.
A hockey player at Methuen High, Corbett learned to snowboard and race mountain bikes in Vermont.
At the time of his accident, he was working as an electrician in Rutland, Vt., the same profession as his father, Don.
Following his accident, Corbett took a few ski lessons, but he struggled to find his balance.
He kept at it, however, and he began making progress the following winter, 2001-02, at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, N.H.
"I was interested in it because it was a way to get back into the mountains at winter time," he said.
He has worked at Attitash for the last four years, a job he truly loves.
"He has really grown into the job," said Kathy Chandler, the executive director of AbilityPlus.
"It's been lots of fun. Even when I'm working I'm still out in the snow," Corbett said. "I'm outside all the time."
He skis 100 days a year. What's not to like?
Corbett will depart tomorrow for Colorado, where he'll meet his brother, Tim. If all goes well, he'll qualify for the finals and be shown live on ESPN on Sunday.
"There's a few new faces, so I think we've got a little advantage on them. The X Games is a little different than what we're used to. It's a longer course and the jumps are bigger," he said.
Chandler isn't betting against him.
"The X Games are a perfect venue for Erik. He loves the adventure and he loves pushing himself to the highest levels," she said.
To order this photo please visit our MyCapture site.
LOWELL -- His first practice run at his first Winter X Games left him in the emergency room with concussion-like symptoms and seven stitches under his right eye.
Leave it to Erik Corbett to put a rosy spin on his injuries last winter, which included a black eye.
"The ESPN cameras seemed to like that," the 2005 UMass Lowell graduate said with a chuckle. "I received a little face time then. It made for a good story line. They used a couple of close-ups of me."
Corbett, 30, was featured on ESPN last winter because he didn't quit. He didn't leave Aspen, Colo., and return to his Glen, N.H., home. He may be disabled -- the result of spinal-cord injuries he received in a 2000 car crash -- but Corbett is far from a quitter.
Quitting is not in the Methuen native's DNA.
"Nothing stops him," his mother, Susan Corbett, said. "He just goes and goes. He's fearless. Before his accident he was kind of quiet and withdrawn. Now he's found a passion.
"Don't tell him he can't do something," she added.
Corbett finished fifth during the 2009 Winter X Games in MonoskierCross, a unique event in disabled athletics.
Corbett uses a monoski to compete. A monoski consists of a bucket seat and a single ski. In Aspen, Corbett will be one of 12 disabled athletes vying for the title.
The top eight qualify to compete Saturday which, ironically, is the 10th anniversary of the car crash which changed his life.
On that fateful day, at about 8 a.m.,
after leaving a friend's home, a groggy Corbett -- he said he hadn't slept in about 24 hours -- drove his Jeep Wrangler into a road sign off a secluded road in Rutland, Vt.
"That's about all I know," he said. "The details are a little fuzzy."
Corbett, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, broke two vertebrae in his back, a shoulder blade and an arm.
He spent a week at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., and then was transferred to a rehab center in Woburn, Mass., where he spent three months.
His life would never be the same. Barring a medical breakthrough, he says it's likely he'll never walk again.
Corbett doesn't think back to Jan. 30, 2000, very often. Maybe it's because he's always looking forward.
He has told his family that if a miracle doesn't occur, he's OK with remaining in a wheelchair.
"He's very comfortable with who he is. We're extremely proud of him," his mother said. "We could never imagine 10 years ago ... him doing this."
The "this" Susan Corbett was referring to was her son's participation in the Winter X Games.
But she could easily have been talking about his job as the program director of AbilityPLUS at Attitash, a New Hampshire ski resort. In that capacity, Corbett works with disabled skiers of all abilities.
Or she could have been referring to his entrepreneurial spirit, like last summer when he became the owner of a seafood store in Glen.
Or the fact that he's involved in waterskiing and cycling instruction. Corbett was so busy last summer that he canceled his cable since he was rarely home.
"He makes the rest of us look bad," Susan Corbett said.
Erik Corbett grew up in Methuen and spent his freshman, sophomore and junior years at Methuen High. Prior to his senior year, he transferred to Troy Academy in Poultney, Vt., and quickly fell in love with the surrounding mountains.
A hockey player at Methuen High, Corbett learned to snowboard and race mountain bikes in Vermont.
At the time of his accident, he was working as an electrician in Rutland, Vt., the same profession as his father, Don.
Following his accident, Corbett took a few ski lessons, but he struggled to find his balance.
He kept at it, however, and he began making progress the following winter, 2001-02, at Loon Mountain in Lincoln, N.H.
"I was interested in it because it was a way to get back into the mountains at winter time," he said.
He has worked at Attitash for the last four years, a job he truly loves.
"He has really grown into the job," said Kathy Chandler, the executive director of AbilityPlus.
"It's been lots of fun. Even when I'm working I'm still out in the snow," Corbett said. "I'm outside all the time."
He skis 100 days a year. What's not to like?
Corbett will depart tomorrow for Colorado, where he'll meet his brother, Tim. If all goes well, he'll qualify for the finals and be shown live on ESPN on Sunday.
"There's a few new faces, so I think we've got a little advantage on them. The X Games is a little different than what we're used to. It's a longer course and the jumps are bigger," he said.
Chandler isn't betting against him.
"The X Games are a perfect venue for Erik. He loves the adventure and he loves pushing himself to the highest levels," she said.
