Article published on ESPN.com
Author: D’Arcy Maine
STEVE EMT HAD BEEN been conscious for only a few moments when he heard the words that would change his life forever.
He had been in a serious car accident days before and had awoken in an unfamiliar hospital room from a coma. The doctor didn’t mince his words.
“You will never walk again,” he said.
It was inconceivable. Emt was just one year removed from playing as a walk-on for the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team alongside the likes of Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie and Donyell Marshall. Playing sports had always been a core part of his identity. The next few days were a mix of despair and devastation. He was 25 years old, paralyzed and, in his words, had hit rock bottom.
But during his recovery he was brought to a rehabilitation pool, and the experience changed everything. Being active again, even in a limited capacity, reminded him of the joy he had once felt playing sports. He knew he needed to change his attitude and find things he could do.
While he was still in the hospital, members from a local wheelchair basketball team visited him in an attempt to recruit him. “I played for UConn; they were literally chasing the ambulance,” Emt joked. So he tried that. There were stints with baseball, tennis, racing, even coaching high school basketball, but nothing truly filled the void.
Until, that is, a chance encounter on Cape Cod sparked what would become a life-altering passion. And now, 13 years later, Emt is competing in his third Paralympic Games in the mixed doubles curling event with his partner Laura Dwyer. The winner of 10 national championships, Emt, 56, is the most decorated Paralympic curler in U.S. history.
“When someone first mentioned to me [in the hospital] the Paralympics, I said, ‘What’s the Paralympics?'” Emt told ESPN in the fall. “I had no idea. … But now the opportunity to be able to wear the red, white and blue and represent the greatest country in the world, on the grandest of stages is just something that I cherish and I’m blessed to be able to do.”