My name is Wendy

My injury was a hemorrhagic stroke

What silver linings do your lenses represent? What are you proud of and working towards?

My lenses are an archery target. I found adaptive archery after my stroke and am now a member of the Team USA archery team. I am working towards LA ‘28 Paralympics.

What advice (and hope) would you share with your past-self, following the injury?

Go out and try something new. Don’t say you can’t until you’ve truly tried. Show up, do your best, quit comparing yourself to others and be the support and encouragement someone else needs. Rise above your circumstances and be an inspiration to others. And always, always be kind!

Wendy shoots with one arm. When they were watching the Paralympics, Wendy and her husband said, “why not?” Her mechanically-inclined husband created her first adaptive bow. It’s been game-changing since. Aiming with one arm, Wendy has a mouthpiece to release the arrow towards its target. Narrowly missing the last Team USA Paralympic Trials, she’s training hard for 2028. Taking it further than the two of them, she and her husband now also make adaptive bows for other para-athletes, giving them the freedom to compete.