BVA Louisiana/Mississippi Regional Group Secretary Gary Schoelerman recently reported that some of the group’s members, a little more than a year ago, convinced one of its newer members, Shawntina Gibson, to attend a Team BVA hiking-rock climbing-kayaking-biking event. Shawntina had never been rock climbing or kayaking before, and she hadn’t ridden a bike in years, but she was willing to give it a try and quickly fell in love with the challenge to mind and body. 

Soon Shawntina was snow skiing and running the Houston Half-Marathon. She then attended “Beast Adventure Week 2023” in the California desert in early March and a month later participated in the Half Ironman triathlon challenge in Southern California with the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Shawntina contracted an untreated eye disease in the Army that led to blindness, prematurely ending her promising career. However, she’s now discovered a new passion for adaptive sports competition, resulting in the nickname Daredevil Superwoman. Read Shawntina’s story in her own words in the soon-to-be-available Spring 2023 issue of The Bulletin.