Chad Mc Crary - Overcoming Adversity

 Chad McCrary began a career as a bodybuilder two years before a tragic accident resulted in an injury to his spinal cord. The accident happened while Chad was making an attempt to successfully complete a long triple jump on a track in Plain Dealing, Louisiana. His dirt bike hit the apex landing very hard and Chad's spinal cord was torn and snapped. 

After a week in the intensive care unit of LSU Hospital Chad had to have back surgery. Prior to the surgery Chad was not able to move or feel any body part below his waste. When he was discharged from LSU Hospital three weeks after surgery he was then transferred to a rehab center called Texarkana St. Michael's. For 90 days Chad underwent physical rehab. It would take two more years of making progress in rehab before Chad came to the conclusion that he could no longer work in his chosen profession, which was a paramedic and a firefighter. 

The next three years of Chad's life would be spent attempting to regain his ability to walk, despite the fact that his doctors told him he never would again. While even today he is still mainly confined to a wheelchair, he is able to briefly walk on his own two feet as long as it is only for short distances. 

Chad moved on to take the necessary courses to work as an Army JAG paralegal. However, he is still devoted to bodybuilding and participates in competitions despite his wheelchair. He has been competing as a wheelchair bodybuilder for 11 years and has won many championships, such as the Heart of Texas Heavyweight competition, where he came in ninth place in 2003. Since then he has gone on to come in at first place at the Heart of Texas Heavyweight competition in 2005. The next year he also won first place in the Lone Star State competition. He also came in first place in the Arkansas State Championships. In 2008 he came in second place in the 2008 Wheelchair Nationals. Most recently, Chad came in first place in the West Palm Beach, Florida Wheelchair Nationals in the over 40 division and the heavyweight division. 

In 2000 Chad first began his bodybuilding career. At the time he weighed in at 160 pounds and had 15% body fat. By 2003 he had bulked up so much that his weight shot up to 240 pounds, with his body fat hovering between 15% and 18%. In October of that year, Chad was persuaded by a friend to participate in a bodybuilding competition in Plano, Texas. To prepare for the competition, Chad lost 45 pounds and achieved 4% to 5% body fat in only 12 weeks. When he came in ninth place in the competition he came to the decision that even though he still wanted to be a bodybuilder he didn't want to enter competitions anymore. 

As a result of quitting the bodybuilding competition circuit he took up motorcross riding instead, which ultimately led to the accident that would change his life forever. The accident happened in March of 2005 and six months later, Chad made the decision to begin competing in bodybuilding shows in the wheelchair class. He did so, in part to inspire others to overcome their adversaries and not let them limit what they could and could not accomplish throughout their lifetime. Chad is motivated to do whatever he puts his mind to and wants others to feel the same way. He wants to prove that the only limitations he has in life are the ones he places on himself, which he tries to avoid doing whenever he can. 

Wheelchair bodybuilding is something that Chad has not only taken up, but become passionate about. Despite his own injuries he wants to encourage those who follow his life and his career to do their best in life. He gained the physical strength to compete in wheelchair bodybuilding competitions by lifting weights and by modifying his workout routine to accommodate his physical limitations. He has changed certain workouts so that he can do them while either sitting down or while lying down. 

Making a difference in other peoples' lives is something that Chad feels strongly about. It  gives him the motivation to continue his efforts in the bodybuilding industry. He wants to serve as a role model for others who have suffered horrific injuries similar to the ones he has suffered. Chad takes his mental and emotional strength and uses is to how others that they too can be as successful as he is. Through his passion for everything that he does, Chad inspires people all over the world to do their best to accomplish their goals and not let anything stop them from doing so. He will likely continue to serve as an inspiration for those who have had similar adversaries that they have faced. ​