by Matt Hughes
J-E News Editor
A spinal injury left Chuck Melton paralyzed, but that hasn’t held him back. In fact, he is probably more active than most people with full mobility.
“On August 16, 2008 I dove into a lake and hit the bottom,” Melton said. This resulted in a C7 injury to his spinal cord that left him unable to walk and with limited use of his arms and hands.
“I was really weak and unmotivated for several years after my accident,” Melton said. But a friend he had made in the hospital changed that. He had invited Melton to join his Quad Rugby team numerous times over a two or three year period, and finally one day Melton agreed.
Now Melton is a member of the St. Louis Rugby Rams, a wheelchair rugby or quad rugby team based in St. Louis, Missouri. Quad rugby is a full contact sport played by individuals in wheelchairs, who are impaired in their upper and lower extremities. The sport developed some 20 plus years ago, began in the hospitals and parking lots of North America and has evolved now into the fastest growing wheelchair sport in the world.
“It’s like a combination of basketball and hockey,” Melton said. “You got ten seconds to inbound the ball. We get a 40 second shot clock. You have 12 seconds to cross half court. You have to dribble or pass the ball every 10 seconds.”
There are four players on the court at a time for each team, two on offense and two on defense. Their special designed wheel chairs look almost like armored chariots, designed to take the abuse of a tough match.
On December 16, 2012, Melton was named to the 2013 USA Wheelchair Rugby team. Each December the top 25 quad rugby players in the country are called to the Olympic training center in Birmingham, AL. 12 of those will be chosen as the sport’s elite, making Melton one of the top 12 quad rugby players in the country.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be on the US National team,” Melton said. “I have gotten to travel around the world with that team and just take in the local culture.”
Not only have they traveled the world, they’ve returned triumphant, bringing with them three gold medals.
In September Melton traveled to Australia to take part in the Wheelchair Rugby Tri-Nations championship tournament with Team USA.
On June 9, 2013, he was with Team USA when they defeated Australia 61-56 in Denmark to win the world title.
On September 20, a crowd of over 2,000 watched as Team USA claimed the 2013 Wheelchair Rugby Tri-Nations title with a 58-54 victory over Australia in the shadow of St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, Australia. Melton scored three goals in that game.
“There are so many emotions that come with such a life changing event,” said Melton, who added that he will probably be in a wheel chair his entire life. “You have to be determined. The best thing is to be around others that are in similar circumstances. They can give you feedback about what they’re doing.”
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