LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Vegas local Jody Bennett has been passionate about fighting his whole life.
“I grew up in a small town called Goldfield, Nevada — nothing to do at all," Bennett said. "So my brother, he would tape mine and my brother’s hands up with towels and just have us slug it out in the living room, ever since then, I've loved boxing.”
WATCH | Jody Bennett shares his incredible boxing journey
That love for boxing developed into a main way of exercise for Bennett as an adult, however, it flashed before his eyes 12 years ago almost to the day, on July 18.
“I was riding my Harley and an antelope jumped out in front of me," Bennett said. "I think the sissy bar smacked me in my spine and broke my back. I went from six-foot-four to four-foot-six looking up at everybody — very humbling, when you lose a core sense, the doctors say the closest thing to it is the loss of a loved one, you’ll never stop grieving over it, you’ll always feel that pain and I remember it was really, really scary for me.”
Little did Bennett know, becoming paralyzed from the waist down would be the beginning of his multi-adaptive sport career by turning that scary feeling into an invitation to compete for the first-ever World Adaptive Boxing Council Wheelchair Heavyweight Ambassador title.
“It’s hard when you think that you can’t do things or when you have to adapt, and there are a lot of things you think - well, I’ll never be able to do that again — and then when you find out that you can, that feeling is amazing," Bennett said.
Through his story, Bennett hopes to inspire others — especially his daughter, Alicia, who has been there from the start — to chase that amazing feeling of accomplishing your dream, no matter what.
“I’ve raised my daughter as a single dad most of her life and all she’s known is me being in a chair, I never wanted her to have the excuse that she couldn’t do something," Bennett said. "I wanted her to always look at me and be like — man, my dad did this, I can do anything. It took me being in a wheelchair, struggling every day, to be able to learn that I can do great things. I know it’s just wheelchair boxing and it’s not big yet, but I want to be the first heavyweight wheelchair champion, and I want it to be an American, like the rest of the greats, and I want it to be home-grown Nevada, Las Vegas.
Bennett is the only American selected to compete in England on August 30. He is raising money for him, his caregiver, and his two coaches to make the trip. If you are able and would like to donate, visit his GoFundMe to contribute: https://www.gofundme.com/f/american-heavyweight-adaptive-boxing-ambassador
