The Journey
"Sports were a core identity of mine growing up."
Growing up, Jack became involved in every sport his parents would let him. In the blink of an eye, he faced the unthinkable and his life would never be the same.
At the age of 10, Jack was involved in a boating accident while water skiing. He had to have his right leg amputated just above the knee.
After spending months rehabilitating, The question became: "what’s next?"
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Dreaming
In the year following his injury, Jack discovered the sport of Sled Hockey and fell in love all over again. His dreams of playing in the NHL had disappeared, but were swiftly replaced with the Dream of Gold.
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Working
Jack spent three years going to sled hockey camps and then spent three seasons on the US National Development Team. Each year, he made a commitment to get better than the last. Until finally, he was named to the US Paralympic team.
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Achieving
Jack has since become a dominant and established player on the team and has won two Paralympic Gold Medals (2018, 2022) and three World Championships (2019, 2022, 2023).
Jack plans to become a dual-sport Paralympian, where he'll compete in both summer & winter games.
Jack started competing in Paracanoe in 2019 but after some setbacks, COVID-19 and Reconstructive surgery of his elbow, he had to focus all of his energy on Sled Hockey. Then, fresh off his 2nd Paralympic gold, he set his sights on Paris 2024. He started climbing the world ranks in 2022 and eventually, earned the title of Pan American Champion and won the B-Final at World Championships.
He then trained for the next two years straight. Paddling straight through winter in below-freezing conditions and through the blazing Tennessee summer. All this while maintaining his roster spot on the dominant US Sled Hockey team. Unfortunately, the 2024 ParaCanoe World Championships and Para Ice Hockey World Championships were scheduled for the same week on opposite sides of the globe.
Jack competed in both, playing the first two games in Calgary and then flying to Hungary to try and earn his quota for Paris. After three days of battling jetlag and other nagging issues, he reached the B-Final and came in third place just .008 seconds away from qualifying for the Paris Games. He then got back on a plane to Calgary to compete in the Gold Medal game 24 hours later. The USA fell to Canada in a controversial 2-1 loss.
With Milan 2026 and LA 2028 looming in the distance, these two failures will serve as nothing but motivation to achieve his goal of becoming a Dual Sport Paralympian.
