Growing Bolder Blog

It's Not About Age; It's About Attitude

Menu
  • Home
  • Our Bloggers
    • Meet Team GB Elite
    • Amy Accardi
    • Ainslie Waldron
    • Bill Shafer
    • Elizabeth St. Hilaire
    • Liz Kitchens
    • Oleda Baker
    • Pamela Quigley
    • Marc Middleton
    • Mary Flynn
    • Mary T. Wagner
    • Karen Putz
    • Rowdy Gaines
    • Sandy Scott
    • Wendy Chioji
  • Write for GB
  • Newsletters
  • GrowingBolder.com

The Competition of His Life

1 Comment

Story submitted by Mike Merino with special photography provided by Larry Feldman.

Richard “The Hammer” Lilien has been hitting it extra hard at the gym as he prepares for the competition of his life.

photo courtesy: Larry Feldman

What makes this World War II Army veteran unique is he’s 90 years old, a quadriplegic and lives full time in the spinal cord injury center at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa.

But there’s a problem: The Hammer doesn’t have the money he needs to take on this ultimate athletic challenge.

Lilien, along with 21 senior veterans from Tampa Bay are training for the National Veterans Golden Age Games in Biloxi, Miss., on May 7-11, 2017. Competing will be 850 veteran athletes from more than 40 states. The games are open to veterans age 55 or older, who receive health care from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The goal is to encourage older vets to exhibit sportsmanship, dedication, leadership and an active lifestyle year-round.

“Winning Gold is the dream for all these athletes, however, only a few will bring one back,” said Bernadette Hoffman, Haley recreational therapist, and veterans coach. “But along the way they will form new friendships, overcome personal obstacles, and become mentally and physically stronger than they were before.”

A successful real estate executive from Naples, Lilien never imagined at age 86 he would end up paralyzed and in a wheelchair.

“I took an accidental combination of a prescribed pain medication for a foot injury, along with my usual late afternoon martini,” Lilien said. “It caused me to black out, fall on my head and it broke my neck.”

The National Veterans Golden Age Games is the premier senior adaptive rehabilitation program in the United States, and the only national multi-event sports and recreational seniors’ competition program designed to improve the quality of life for all older Veterans, including those with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. It includes 19 different sports ranging from archery to golf to competitive swimming.

“At Haley, we honor our veterans and their enormous efforts to constantly strive for ways to express their exceptional courage and desire to rise above and beyond,” said Dr. Kevin T. White, chief of Haley`s Spinal Cord Injury Center.

Lilien’s first competition was in 2016 at the Detroit games. The VA paid for that initial trip, but vets have to pay for subsequent competitions. This year he is seeking sponsors to defray the $2,600 cost for Lilien and his caregiver. If successful, he will compete in bocce ball, shuffleboard, air rifle, and bowling.

“I won three medals in Detroit and I’m aiming for all gold this year,” he said. “I’m ready and I know I can do it.”

The games will feature a Health & Wellness Exposition offering the athletes a better experience. The exposition promotes the motto of “Fitness for Life” for senior veterans. Each gets an interactive opportunity to sample various demonstrations, displays and products that can help them maintain active lifestyles.

When asked how he got his nickname, Lilien replied, “At 75, I could hit a golf ball farther than any of those youngsters at the golf course. They were so impressed they started calling me The Hammer, and it stuck.”

You can donate to Mr. Lilien at GOFUNDME.COM:

https://www.gofundme.com/bprjv-golden-age-games

Filed Under: Hope. Inspiration. Possibility.

Comments

  1. MARK C. MORTHIER says

    June 1, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    Very inspiring story! Thanks for sharing it and thank you for your service!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

Join our Blogging Team!

Interested in seeing your work appear on Growing Bolder? Click here to see our guidelines and submission process. We can't wait to see how you are Growing Bolder!

Recent Posts

  • Strength in Numbers
  • Creating a Lasting Impact in the World as You Age
  • Determination After a Devastating Injury
  • Believe It and You Can Achieve It
  • The Competition of His Life

More From Our Growing Bolder Bloggers

The Art of a Wasted Day
25 April 2018 - Liz Kitchens

Ah the to-do list. That attempt we make to keep all those balls we are juggling airborne. Baby Boome [...]

Sedona, AZ April 2018
24 April 2018 - Elizabeth St. Hilaire

    My Happy Place I returned to the Sedona Arts Center this past weekend for the 14th time to teach [...]

Imagination Will Take You Everywhere
16 April 2018 - Liz Kitchens

“Logic will get you from A to B Imagination will take you everywhere.” ~ Albert Einstein” Blogs I wr [...]

Travel Blog; Three Cities in Three Weeks
10 April 2018 - Elizabeth St. Hilaire

It Started With A Protest My son Connor will pursue a degree in Political Science at college in the [...]

I’m in
7 April 2018 - Wendy Chioji

Usually that phrase means I’m about to launch myself into another adventure. This time, it means tha [...]

Cycle 4, Day 15
20 March 2018 - Wendy Chioji

Good grief, where have I been? I just checked, and I haven’t posted an update (besides the video che [...]

Chasing Klimt in San Francisco
20 March 2018 - Elizabeth St. Hilaire

My Muse Back in January I had the extreme pleasure of seeing the largest ever exhibition of my favor [...]

YES! (Say it With Me)
16 March 2018 - Wendy Chioji

I know I’ve been slack in posting posts, but in this case anyway, no news is good news. I’ll have a [...]

West Coast New Zealand South Island
5 March 2018 - Ainslie Waldron

Kea, Llamas and Cowboys I just visited New Zealand.  This time the bulk of my visit was to the west [...]

One Brief Shining Moment
1 March 2018 - Mary Flynn

Strange as it may sound, this is a story that I promise you is true. It happened quite a few years a [...]

The Grandmother’s Network
24 February 2018 - Liz Kitchens

You know what makes me more than a little crazy? (Like I really need something outside myself to pit [...]

Don’t Let Ol’ Man Winter Age You, or Worse…..
14 February 2018 - Oleda Baker

  We have the power to seriously influence our aging process and protect ourselves Even though I spe [...]

Pulling the Ripcord to Early Retirement
11 February 2018 - Mary T. Wagner

The countdown has begun. After two years of noodling the idea of “early retirement” around in theory [...]

Back on Track
2 February 2018 - Wendy Chioji

Two units of somebody else’s blood and three shots of Neupogen did the trick. I do think it took som [...]

Husbands Retiring to New Management Roles
29 January 2018 - Liz Kitchens

My husband told me a story when I returned home from work the other day, one that frustrated him and [...]

Happy Australia Day!
25 January 2018 - Ainslie Waldron

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/…/Macleay-Island:Australia:M… There is now an accurate Trip Advisor p [...]

Good News (Except for that Airborne Wrench)
25 January 2018 - Wendy Chioji

So as not to bury my lead, let me say what I already knew (on the inside): The first CT scan of my t [...]

Dining vs. Eating: The Price of Restaurant Real Estate
20 January 2018 - Liz Kitchens

Like many of us, my husband and I love going out to eat. We were dining out at one of our favorites [...]

Birds on Macleay
18 January 2018 - Ainslie Waldron

A very quick post showing some of the many and varied birds I saw this morning on my early morning w [...]

New Year New Rules
3 January 2018 - Liz Kitchens

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and is the first day of a period called The High Holy Days, cul [...]

© 2006 - 2016 Bolder Broadcasting, LLC. All Rights Reserved.