Wheelchair Games To Be Held in Pittsburgh

The 31st National Veterans Wheelchair Games will be held in Pittsburgh this August. The games are the largest annual wheelchair sports event and will have about 600 competitors.

The games consist of 17 different sports and are open to Veterans who use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, amputations or neurological diseases. The games last several days and are free and open to the public. Bill Lawson, the National President of the Paralyzed Veterans of America said watching his fellow veterans play sports such as basketball or baseball is "inspirational."

Rob Morris, an Army Veteran from Grindstone has competed and won medals in the past. "Everybody has a competitor in them," he said, "You come back for the competition but there is relationships there, people from all other states, a chance to get out and see other parts of the country and again compete. It all rolls up into something thats just...Its hard to explain. It just all rolls up into something where you want to do it again and again and again."

On Monday, local insurance company Highmark presented the games with a check for $100,000.