Steve Emt has quite the life story and he used some of his down time during the pandemic to share his experiences with the world in an effort to inspire others. 

“People always tell me ‘you need to write a book, you need to write a book.’ Well I’ve got time on my hands so I guess I’ll start writing a book,” said Emt, who walked on to play basketball at UConn in 1993. “Everything I’ve been through, I’ve been through some incredible things. I’ve done some incredible things.”

He’s had his fair share of adversity to overcome. At the age of 25, Emt had too much to drink and got into a car accident, which paralyzed him from the waist down. Since then, he has become a teacher, basketball coach, motivational speaker and Paralympian in the sport of curling.

“My first games in PyeongChang in 2018 was a life changer for me,” said Emt. “I’m just trying to enlighten people’s lives, empower people to look at themselves as their own heroes.”

The book is called You D.E.C.I.D.E – a six-step action plan to becoming the hero of your own life.

“No matter what you’re going through in your life right now, you can overcome it,” said Emt. “I get asked all the time, ‘how did you overcome your accident? How did you overcome the loss of your father? How did you overcome the loss of your mother?’ I’ve had all these negative things happen in my life and people always ask how? ‘I wouldn’t be able to do it’ and the first thing I say is ‘you’re wrong.’”

During these difficult times, Emt hopes to continue to be an example and prove that anybody can control their own destiny.