Kirk Bauer, the executive director of Disabled Sports USA , discusses the importance of sports in the rehabilitation of the disabled

Kirk Bauer, 58, lost his left leg above the knee when he was hit by a grenade in Vietnam in 1969. He was 21 years old. Today, Bauer credits a nascent skiing program for disabled vets with eradicating his depression and turning his life around. First as a volunteer and now for the past 25 years as executive director of Disabled Sports USA, Bauer is an evangelist for the healing power of sports for those with disabilities.

GJ: How did you respond to losing your left leg in Vietnam?

Bauer: My story of what I went through is very typical of people who lose the use of some part of your body. At first it was a deep sense of loss and depression. Psychologically, it's like losing a family member, the emotional and physical loss. It's very emotional; your whole life has been turned upside down. I had just turned 21.

Were you an athlete in high school?

I was both athletic and very active. I was all-city in Oakland, Calif. I was a lineman, an offensive guard. We had a very fast backfield, and we did a lot of pulling (guard) plays. I was not really big, but I was fast. I was good at what I did. Then I was also most valuable player on my swim team. I was also a surfer.

In the first months after your injury, was your background in athletics a positive or a negative?

At first it was all negative. I spent six months in the hospital. I had seven operations as they put me back together. I woke up in the middle of one operation and tried to crawl off the operating table. I would sit there checking off all of the things I could no longer do. But that list was false; it was just in my mind. About four months into my rehab, some disabled vets from Vietnam told me about a brand-new program. There was a skiing program in the Sierras for disabled vets. I laughed it off and laughed at them. But it planted a seed. At the urging of another amputee, I went up for a day to see what it was about. I wound up staying four days. I could not leave. To suddenly be able to ski down the mountain after living in slow motion worked wonders. I was suddenly free again. It was mind-altering. It was a real revelation, and it turned my head around. I got very involved in ski racing.

You also became involved in volunteering, right?

I've been involved either as a volunteer or a staff person for the last 36 years. The first 12 years were just as a volunteer. This program excited me so much, I studied to become a certified ski instructor. That was the big thrill, to see the same look of excitement and anticipation in the eyes of others who learned how to ski. It gave me a great deal of satisfaction to do that. I did that through law school at Boston University.

How important are Masters athletes to your organization?

With disabled athletes, we're older, because 85 percent of us are disabled from injury or disease, and that often happens a little bit later in life. We do have an older clientele, though the age group of 18 to 45 is most prominent in our organization.

Why are sports important in this context?

Sports can be what keeps us healthy and excited about life. It's a very important part of just staying healthy. We now offer 20 different sports, some of which you'd expect and some of which you wouldn't. We have snow skiing, cycling, rock climbing, kayaking, outrigger canoes, swimming and the list goes on. A below-the-knee amputee ran a sub-11 second 100-meter dash. A disabled athlete has high-jumped 6 feet, and another athlete has long-jumped 23 feet.

Tell us about the growth of your organization.

Originally there was one chapter and one sport. It was snow skiing in California for veteran amputees. Now there are 87 chapters in 35 states doing 20 different sports. It mirrors the growth in sports in general. There's better equipment now. That's a big factor, the technology of the equipment. There's also been growth in the general awareness.

How are you approaching the disabled veterans from the Iraq War?

We've teamed up with the Wounded Warrior Project. Disabled Sports USA was originally an organization serving veterans. The last 30 years we've had a civilian orientation. But when the war started, we knew there would be casualties so we started gearing up to start marking contact. We started making visits three years ago this month going to the bedsides of several wounded soldiers. We made a commitment at that point to start offering programs to them where everything was free, everything was paid for. We're now serving, including family members, about 800 people.