You’ve just finished a day earning some extra cash by landscaping with some buddies.  As you and your friends are chugging down the highway in the bed of a pick up truck, an 18 wheeler crashes into your car and drags you 300 feet under a trailer.  26 surgeries, 2 amputations and an addiction to and recovery from pain medication later, you notice several magazine covers featuring 2 different amputee athletes who have just competed on the world stage of triathlon, Kona.  This singular moment in seeing others just like you overcome their disabilities puts you on a road to the lava fields on the Big Island of Hawaii.  You are Scott Rigsby.

After your tragic car accident at age 18 and the 26 surgeries that followed, what drew you to the world of multisport and what were your expectations in choosing to attempt such aggressive races?
During Christmas of 2005, I was at a point that I no longer wanted to live.  My life was serving no purpose.  I was just taking up space and existing.  As Thoreau said, I was leading "a life of quiet desperation."  In my despair, while lying on my parent’s living room floor with tears streaming down my cheeks, I cried out to God with one last "hail mary" prayer.  I prayed that if God would open a door for me then I would run through it, because that's the only thing special that I knew that I could do.  Nothing happened that night, but two days later my prayer was answered.  I walked into a book store in Atlanta and saw Sarah Reinersten's picture on the front cover of the January 2006 Runner's World and Triathlete magazines.  The magazine next to those two, was Men's Journal, that featured Major David Rozelle, a single amputee soldier that was competing in triathlons.  Their stories inspired me to want to complete the Hawaiian Ironman and encourage our wounded veterans to not give up and live an active lifestyle.  Ignorance was bliss for me, because I was filled with hope, a sense of direction, and a reason to live but really didn't consider that what I was trying to do was "Unthinkable" and that I was facing insurmountable odds.  I didn't know how to swim; I didn't own a bike (could not afford one), and I had never even run a mile on prosthetics, much less a marathon.  Lastly, I have bad genetics and linebacker body.  Plain and simple, Ironman saved my life because it gave me a means to an important end.

As if your accident, subsequent amputations and surgeries weren't enough, you ended up crashing halfway through the bike leg at Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 2007.  You cracked a vertebra in the process and ended up DNFing on the run.  What went through your mind as you pulled out?
To say that I was disappointed would be a huge understatement.  I had spent 9 or 10 days in April 2007 prior to the race riding the course almost every day.  I knew every inch of that road.  That same training week the CDA press did a 4 page story on me that won an AP sports award so everyone in CDA was following me.  The day before the race CNN Headline news ran a story on my every 30 minutes so numerous people across the country were following my progress.  The pressure to finish the race was enormous and to fail was devastating, heart breaking, and gut wrenching.  I still to this day can't believe that I didn't finish, but I went a far as I could go.  I took some sound advice from a close friend, Carol Sharpless.  She said that, "you can try to finish and you might succeed, but at what cost?  You already have a slot in Kona and finishing this race cost you a chance to finish that race?”  She gave me some sound advice that day and I am glad in retrospect that I took it.

Previous to your accident, what kind of an athlete were you growing up?
I had the fearlessness of a lion, the reckless of a bull in a china shop, but talent no where near the size of my heart.  What I lacked in size, speed, strength, and athletic ability, I tried to overcompensate with sheer and literal, blood, guts and determination.  I played high school football and recreational basketball, baseball, and soccer.  I would say that my story is very similar to that of RudyRuettiger, the real life character in which the movie "Rudy" was based.  My Dad once said that if someone were to "split my head open, all these different balls would fall out, a football, basketball, baseball, etc."  I was and still am a passionate sports fanatic.  I have always liked being around anyone that is passionate about their particular sport.

From an inspirational standpoint, your achievements are incredibly motivational.  After reaching the milestones you've reached, what motivates you to continue to compete?
There are more "Unthinkable” milestones that I want to achieve so that I can still inspire others.  I am so young in multisport.  I went from zero to Kona in a year and eight months.  I am still learning how to be an endurance athlete.  I am trying through trial and error to be the tip of the sword for what is possible for double amputees, as swimmers, cyclists, runners, and overall multisport athletes.  How cool would it be to swim the English Channel; cycle in RAAM, or the Leadville MTB 100; run Badwater 135, or finish the Ultraman?  I am convinced that with the proper financial support I could complete these bucket lists events, but the truth is my mission and purpose is to encourage others to live an active lifestyle and reach beyond their circumstances.  It’s the feeling that I get every time I visit a military hospital and spend time with a kid that has just lost his leg and wonders "what now?"  I share my story and see the light come on in their heads about what is possible.  On my next visit, the kid is running, climbing, or kayaking.  It's easy to keep trying to find new ways to inspire lives like that.

Your schedule for 2009 looks aggressive for anyone (California 70.3, Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Ironman Hawaii and Clearwater).  What are your goals for these races?
First of all, doing these races is not about me and what I am capable of.  It’s about continuing to reach able-bodied people and challenged athletes and encourage them to “Do the Unthinkable” in their own lives.  These venues allow me to do that on a larger scale.  My personal goal is for each race to help prepare me for the race to follow.  The Cali 70.3 has a hilly bike course and it will be a good prep for the CDA Ironman.  I have unfinished business at CDA.  I want to finish what I started there 2 years ago.  Kona, if chosen by WTC in their PC lottery, I will go back.  This time wiser, lighter, stronger, and healthier.  I volunteered at Clearwater the last two years so if I am in good shape after Kona (provided I get in) then I would love to do it.  I’ll just do the training and let God sort out the details.

For someone with your disability, what discipline is more difficult to train for, running or cycling?  Can you try to share what the difference in these two sports is for an amputee vs. an able bodied athlete?
Someone noticed me the day before the Hawaiian Ironman in shorts and stated, “hey, you must be one of our challenged athletes!”  After an awkward response, I thought that I do not see myself as a challenged athlete, but as an athlete with challenges.  We all have some type of personal challenge, whether its injury, health or emotional related.  But to your point, missing a calf and foot does affect power and balance.  Chaffing and sweat accumulation are also challenges.  Cycling for me has been the hardest because I have never ridden a bike that fit me. I have had to lengthen my prosthetics to fit the bikes.  This is not something that I would recommend for a physically challenged athlete, but I have had to adapt and overcome.  I am still looking for a bike sponsor (hint) that might desire to help with this issue.


Tell us about the Scott Rigsby Foundation and your work with other physically challenged athletes.
The idea for the Scott Rigsby Foundation was birthed in 2006 after I participated in a prosthetic running study comparing amputee runner's to able-bodied runners.  A Georgia Tech Phd student, Beth Brown, a fellow multiple Ironman finisher, helped me realize how many gaps existed in the industry for truly enabling and informing amputees to live an active lifestyle.  The SRF is raising funds to further research in running and cycling, as well as providing grants to wounded soldiers and the physically challenged.  I am out there doing events to raise awareness and conducting speaking engagements to advocate for our cause.  I’m excited about the potential and amount of interest from people around the world interested in partnering with us (www.scottrigsbyfoundation.org) and I invite all of your readers to join us.

If there was one lesson you could teach to every physically challenged athlete, what would that be?
It is more of a question that I would ask any person, PCA or not, "What is your Unthinkable?"  When you know that answer, then I would say, "1)  have a vision to complete it, 2)  get great people to support you on your quest, 3)  operate and move forward in faith when your fears arise, 4)  anticipate hardships and 5) never quit, no matter what until you cross your finish line.

Your work with kids must be very rewarding and down to earth in that kids can be very blunt and ask questions adults would never dream of.  What's been your most entertaining interaction with kids as they get to know a double amputee who is also such a strong athlete?
Finishing Kona has allowed me to speak to over 8,000 kids this year.  You are right, kids are not fake; they do not wear mask; and they do not have a filter, and I love that most about them.  Their parents say "don't stare" and "don't ask questions."  When I speak to them, I tell them "stare all that you want" and "no question is off limits."  This transparency and openness creates an atmosphere and environment where kids can face their fear of the unknown, challenge their way of thinking, and embrace "my uniqueness."  They want to know "what are those and what happened?"  I tell them about my accident and how the prosthetics are made and work.  They are thinking, "Wow, I feel sorry for him."  I show them the highlights of Kona and I endured almost 17 hours of exercise when they would struggle just to stay awake for 17 hours.  Lastly, kids are bullied because there is something about them, that others see that is different than themselves. They buy into others perception about themselves.  My accident in their eyes makes me different.  I correct them and show them that my legs make me not different, but "unique."  They have allowed me to make history and change the world, one race, one speaking engagement, and one hospital visit at a time.  Celebrating their "uniqueness" will allow them to rise above bullying, make them stronger for it, and start to change their world.

One reoccurring question I get from almost every kids group is "given a choice would I have my legs back?"  I tell them that's an easy question, "no."  I feel like that I can make a greater impact on the world as a double amputee than if I had my legs.  At the end of my life, which is more important; having two intact legs that are not functional, or two prosthetics that can be used as inspiring instruments to change ten of thousands of lives?

I don't think anyone can imagine the pain and anguish you've gone through in your injuries and operations.  But we've all gone through difficult races and training days.  What's been your most painful race experience and how did you overcome it?
In an actual race, it was the 2007 ING GA Marathon that was my most painful.  I was running it to prepare for the 2007 CDA Ironman a few months later.  I had been running so much that I lost enough weight that my legs did not fit.  We did not have time to make new legs so I had to run the marathon with legs that did not fit properly.  Just imagine trying to run a marathon with shoes that were 2 sizes too big?  You try to compensate for the volume loss by adding socks to you feet.  That’s what I tried to do to get through the race.  The first 6 miles seemed to go fine, but I felt like sweat was accumulating in my prosthetics so I wanted to stop and dump it out.  I stopped at mile 6 and sat down on a park bench.  It was there that I dumped out cups of blood and not just some sweat.  I wiped my legs off and continued on know that I had 20 more miles to go.  Every 5 to 6 miles, I would have to repeat this painful process.  I completed the marathon in 5:04 with 40-45 minutes spent on blood dumping.  Other than breaking my back at the CDA Ironman, this was my most painful race.  I finished, because I wanted to keep my promise to God.  The race wasn’t about me.  It was about taking one step closer to fulfilling my purpose.

Scott Rigsby
Born: May 9, 1968
Age: 40
First Triathlon: Gulf Coast Sprint Triathlon April 22, 2006
Turned Pro: 2002 Ironman Wisconsin
Family: I am the youngest of 7. I have 4 sisters and 2 brothers.  My parents have been married for 63 years.  I think their going to make it.
Lives: Sandy Springs, GA outside of Atlanta

Career at a glance

• 2007 1st and only Double Amputee to complete the Hawaiian Ironman
  
  
• 1st U.S. Double Amputee to complete a Half Ironman, (not sure about the world), 2006 South Carolina Half Ironman
  
  
• 1st U.S. Double Amputee to complete an Olympic Distance triathlon, (not sure about the world), 2006 NYC Triathlon
  
  
• 1st U.S. Double Amputee to complete a marathon, 2007 ING GA Marathon

Scott, your story is one for the ages.  Speaking for us at TriMax and so many of your fans worldwide, we thank you for the opportunity to learn more about you, a true asset in the world of multisport.  We all look forward to more great success for you in 2009!

To learn more about Scott’s incredible story his latest blog entries or to make a donation to the Scott Rigsby Foundation, please visit http://www.scottrigsby.com/index.html.

Interview by Max Wunderle

Back To News Center »