Power Soccer’s Team USA Selects Nine

Nine athletes with neuromuscular diseases have been selected for this season’s United States Power Soccer Association’s 12-member Team USA. The athletes are: MDA National Task Force on Public Awareness member Elio Navarro, Tampa, Fla.; Jerry Book, San Jose, Calif.; Danny Gorman, Safety Harbor, Fla.; Jessica Lehman, Sacramento, Calif.; Natalie Russo and JC Russo, Carmel, Ind.; Dakotah Smith, Kennesaw, Ga.; Jairo Solorio and Omar Solorio, Hollister, Calif.

Selected from teams across the country, the members will arrive in Las Vegas Jan. 3 to train for the inaugural Power Soccer World Cup in Japan. The 12 athletes, who use power wheelchairs, are participating in five training camps leading up to the World Cup in October. Training camps are planned for Las Vegas; Newark, Calif.; Indianapolis; and Atlanta. All training camps are open to the public, and updates are available at www.powersoccerUSA.net.

Prior to the World Cup, the coaches will select eight team members and four alternates. For more about power soccer, see “Get in the Game,” May-June 2005.

Former Chief All Fired Up

William Oehlke has been fascinated by fire fighters since childhood. So it’s no wonder that he spent nearly 30 years of his life as the fire chief in Devils Lake, N.D.

A diagnosis of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome in 1993 didn’t slow him down much. He adapted his job to his

Pen Pals

Carlie Brinker
2339 County Road ISO
Millersburg, Ohio 44654
Carlie is 19 and has dermatomyositis.
She’d like to find pen pals with neu-
romuscular diseases.

Manny Murray
1861 Baker Ave.
Douglas, AZ 85607-1842
Manny, 23, enjoys talking on the
phone, going to the park, animals
and movies. He has SMA2.

If you’d like your name added to the Quest Pen Pals list, please send an e-mail to publications@mdausa.org, with your name, city, age, diagnosis and a phone number. Please indicate whether you’d like to list your mailing address, e-mail address or both. You can also write to: Quest, MDA, 3300 E. Sunrise Drive, Tucson, AZ 85718.

abilities and worked for another 10 years, then retired and wrote a book about his experiences.

Fire Hall Revisited,

published last year, is a collection of the memorable moments in Oehlke’s fire-fight-ing career, written in a conversational style with vivid details. Copies can be ordered at www. booksurge.com, (866) 308-6235, $18.99.

Oehlke and his colleagues helped to raise funds for MDA over many years, long before he was found to have a neuromuscular disease. He was a member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

Oehlke, 68, stays active in the community by serving on several city committees, visiting the fire hall for coffee twice a week and working on a second book, to report on humorous fire situations he’s dealt with and his LEMS diagnosis.

“Life has had its trials and tribulations, but with the help of my wife, MDA and my firemen, I continue to have a wonderful life,” Oehlke said.

Diving Dream Comes True

It took three years, but Matt Johnston has made his dive. On Nov. 14, he spent 25 minutes under water in the Florida Keys, in two scuba dives.

Johnston, 30, of Woodbury, Minn., has Duchenne muscular dystrophy and requires a ventilator.

Johnston recruited engineering professors, corporate sponsors, physicians, scuba organizations, researchers, diving experts and the Navy SEALS to help him realize his dream. After his team had created a diving suit that would accommodate a ventilator, he practiced some pool dives, then went to the ocean.

Johnston is believed to be the first ventilator-dependent quadriplegic in the world to go scuba diving in open water. See Quest’s earlier reports on Johnston in March-April 2005 and in Quest Extra, www.mdausa.org/ publications/Quest/extra/qe13-2_ scuba_diving.html.

Paintball Anyone?

Andy Pope of Latrobe, Pa., is looking for people with disabilities to join a paintball league forming across the country. If you’re interested, e-mail andydpope@verizon.net. For more see, http://mountnshoot.com/ index.html.

2007, No. 1

69 Quest