Stacy James crowned 2002 Miss Wheelchair Ohio
Dublin Villager
Stacy James crowned 2002 Miss Wheelchair Ohio
Wednesday, March 6, 2002
MICHAEL RACEY
Villager Staff Writer
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” – Hebrews 10:23
Stacy James wrote this New Testament verse on some poster board and hung it on her wall soon after she became a Christian before her senior year at then-Dublin High School in 1987.
Little did James know how firm a grip she would need or how true the promise would turn out to be just four years later.
In the summer of 1991, James had a diving accident which left her as what the medical establishment calls an ‘incomplete quadriplegic.’
However, there is nothing incomplete about this 31-year-old motivational speaker and adventure seeker.
The latest feather in James’s cap – or, rather, tiara – is her recent crowning as Miss Wheelchair Ohio 2002.
James calls this newest award for achievement as a woman with a disability “a dream come true.”
The selection means she and her mother, Eleni, with whom she lives in the Dublin school district, will be taking a trip to Maryland this summer for the Miss Wheelchair America pageant.
“I think we picked a good one,” said Stacey Hubbard, the Ohio pageant’s coordinator. “I have total faith she’ll go to the top and win the whole thing.”
In the decade since the accident, James has stockpiled a wide variety of medals, trophies, certificates and trip memories, as well as opinions about her life, like Hubbard’s.
For example, James has completed eight marathons using a handcycle, including the famous race in New York City.
She has played wheelchair rugby, gone skiing and horseback riding, as well as whitewater rafting.
And if all of that wasn’t enough – which to her, it isn’t – James hopes to qualify for swimming and track events in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece.
And with every achievement comes with it another chance to talk to people about her faith in God.
“It changed my life,” James said. “I’ve always been an overachiever and that’s where I found my significance.”
James has already been an inspiration to millions as she has appeared with her mother on “Today,” “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” and the “Dr. Laura” nationally syndicated radio program.
James has been a professional success as well. She earned a communications degree with honors from the University of Cincinnati in 1993 and shortly thereafter joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, a youth ministry organization.
James has spent much of her time in southwestern Ohio but moved back to Columbus last August after a year-long internship at Campus Crusade’s headquarters in Florida.
In November, she visited Ground Zero in Manhattan to offer support to public safety officials coping with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
“It was so humbling,” she said. “There were just so few words you could say. What I saw is that people were so willing to help out any way they could.”
James is writing an inspirational book about her life and experiences and is furthering the development of her own ministry “Walking Victorious” which can be reached on the Web at www.meetStacyJames.com.
James said she wants to continue to use her life, before and after the accident, as an example of how much can be accomplished, regardless of circumstances, if one has faith.
“Everybody’s going through something,” she said. “I can do all things through Christ. He gives me strength.”