Columbus native Alex Rivera didn’t expect a life-changing moment when he decided to go tubing on Lake Monroe in Bloomington in the summer of 2009.
Only nine-years-old at the time and like every kid that age, Rivera was having a lot of fun, but that fun soon turned into something serious.
The tube was sitting on the back of the boat and was still attached to the hitch that pulled it. The rope was coiled up and sitting on the boat. Rivera had his left foot in the rope coil as the boat was gaining speed. He suddenly heard the rope whip and in the blink of an eye was 50 feet behind the boat.
At first, Rivera had no idea what happened. A family-friend that was an EMT jumped out and swam to Rivera and carried him back to the boat. That was when it was discovered that an accident had occurred.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“It was a freak boating accident, but it was the most fortunate situation to lose my leg in because I didn’t go into shock, I didn’t drown and I didn’t face any type of infection,” Rivera said. “Everything that could have gone wrong in that situation went right.”
Today, Rivera has enjoyed doing all the activities that he likes to do. He’s been snowboarding since his youth and has had aspirations of competing in snowboarding Paralympics.
He took the first step of that dream as he qualified and competed in the Dew Tour in Breckenridge, Colorado last month. He competed in the Men’s Adaptive Event and finished in 13th place.
At first, Rivera wouldn’t have been eligible to compete on Dew Tour because he didn’t accumulate any points from last year.
However, while he was training, one of his coaches told him about a qualifying spot being available on the Dew Tour. He came in first place and earned a spot in the field. Rivera won the qualifying spot over his roommate. Once he made the field, Rivera immediately contacted his parents, Ed and Elizabeth, to tell them of the exciting news.
While at the event, he got a chance to interact with some of the top snowboarders in the world that included women’s snowboard halfpipe gold medalist Chloe Kim and two-time women’s slopestyle gold medalist Jamie Anderson and men’s slopestyle gold medalist Red Gerard.
Prior to the Dew Tour, he also has met para-snowboard cross gold medalist Evan Strong, who ended up winning the Men’s Adaptive that Rivera competed in.
“All of the big names were there and it was totally insane,” Rivera said. “It was cool I got to talk briefly to Chloe Kim and to meet and get a picture Jamie Anderson, who is one of my all-time favorite snowboarders. It was crazy and I was totally freaking out at the time. It was like I didn’t have to race because my entire Dew Tour experience was met at that moment.”
Rivera said that he will continue and train in Colorado for the rest of the winter.
When he is home in Columbus, he visits Orthotic and Prosthetic, who helps him with his prosthetic leg and all the latest renovations and designs.
“I’m extremely fortunate just being able to walk today, let alone run,” Rivera said. “I can did do all of the things I really love to do. I’m just crazy-fortunate to be where I’m at today.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”The Rivera File” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Alex Rivera
Age: 18
Hometown: Columbus
High School: Culver Academies
[sc:pullout-text-end]
