LaFayette teen's determination leads to a chance to make the U.S. Paralympic team

Caleb Stallings, a 17-year old paraplegic athlete from Lafayette, Ga., works out at Club Fitness with his trainer Ed James in preparation for an upcoming biathlete paralympic event. Stallings is traveling to Colorado next month to train for the skiing and target shooting events. He has never snow-skiied before.

Photo by Dan Henry.

The daunting distance that lies in front of him is intimidating, so Caleb Stallings keeps his eyes focused just a few feet ahead.

The LaFayette, Ga., 17-year old, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident when he was 4, has approached every obstacle in his life with similar singular purpose.

"If it's a challenge, then I want to try it," Caleb said. "But whatever it is I'm doing, I just focus on what's right in front of me. I don't want to look up and out too far because then it would seem overwhelming and I would get scared or doubt myself."

It is that desire to constantly find new challenges that led Caleb to accept an offer to try out for the U.S. Paralympic team, competing in the biathlon. That event includes 16 miles of Nordic skiing, stopping every four miles to shoot five targets, and competitors are judged on both how quickly they cover the frozen distance as well as their accuracy on the rifle range.

"I had never even heard of it before but I was recommended as someone who had all the qualities they were probably looking for, and, after interviewing, the coaches really wanted me to try it," said Caleb, who will be the youngest qualifier on the American team by at least eight years.

"Just because I can't walk doesn't mean I can't accomplish something amazing. I want to show other kids like me that you can do anything if you believe in yourself."

Tryouts for the event are December 4-11 in Breckenridge, Colo., and Caleb has been working to raise the money needed for travel expenses but said he is still about $3,000 shy of what he'll need.

"I'll get there," Caleb said. "I haven't worked this hard not to make it. I'm very goal-oriented, and when I found out about this competition, it was like a dream for me because I knew it would be a challenge and I get to represent my country."

Tough love

It was raining on the night of November 20, 1998 when James Stallings, Caleb's father, was driving home with Caleb's mom, his stepdaughter and newborn son. Failing hydraulics had left a drooping 70-ton crane sitting along the interstate, near the Trenton, Ga., exit. As James topped the hill near his family's exit, he didn't see the crane until it was too late to avoid hitting it. The other passengers escaped without severe injuries, but the collision left James in a coma for four months and severed 4-year-old Caleb's T7 vertebra and T8 vertebra.

Caleb never lost consciousness after the accident and as he was being loaded into the ambulance, even assured paramedics that he wasn't scared because, "the man with the holes in his hands told me I would be alright."

"We shouldn't have survived -- none of us," James said. "I was released a month after I came out of the coma and Caleb was released a month after that. It was a long, difficult road for both of us to get where we are today.

"But one thing I decided to do was not to coddle Caleb. Even while he was in Siskin Hospital I wouldn't push his chair, I made him do it himself. I told him those wheels are your legs, so you might as well learn to use them. I took a lot of heat for that, but the way I saw it, what was he going to do if I wasn't around to take care of him? He had to be able to do things on his own and take care of himself."

Even the tiniest daily task that most able-bodied people take for granted can become a frustrating, time-consuming challenge for a paraplegic. But his father's tough-love approach after the accident began preparing Caleb to tackle every challenge head-on.

"His drive is pretty incredible," said Caleb's personal trainer Ed James, who is also a triathlete. "He works out six days a week from 7-8 a.m. then goes to school and usually does cardio work in the afternoon. The first day that we started really working on his cardio, he rolled for three hours, covering nine miles, non-stop at Chickamauga Battlefield.

"There's a dedication, a commitment he has that's just really impressive. I haven't seen any quit in him."

Although the accident confined Caleb to a wheelchair, it did not limit his desire to try new activities. It also never shook his faith.

"There are lots of things I know I can't do," Caleb said. "All my buddies are driving but I can't yet because the hand controls for a car are too expensive. I won't get to dance with my girlfriend at the prom, and I don't know yet if I can even have kids.

"But I don't ever question my faith in God. He put me in this chair for a reason. There's something I have to do before I die. I'm not sure what His plan is yet, but there's a plan for me. It might be so that I can be a positive role model and inspire kids like me and give them hope."

Olympic dreams

If it has four legs and lives in the wilderness, chances are Stallings has hunted it and shot it -- either with a rifle or a bow and arrow. He began hunting when he was 12 and after growing bored with using a rifle, the trophies he has brought down with a bow and arrow range from an 8-point buck and a 400-pound hog in Texas, to a red stag in New Zealand, a bear in Wisconsin and a 12-foot alligator in South Carolina.

On one hunt in Alabama, Caleb became frustrated when one of the wheels on his chair began to squeak. His solution was to get out of his wheelchair and crawl more than 80 yards, with the bow around his neck, to get a clear shot at and bag a 196-pound hog.

"I really became determined to be a good bow hunter after a guy I know told me I would never be able to do it," Caleb said. "That's the best thing that can happen for me, is when somebody tells me I can't do something because you can pretty much bet I'm going to find a way."

When Caleb was 6 his father got him involved in basketball and tennis through the Chattanooga Parks & Recreation. Years later, while on a water skiing trip set up by Elaine Adams, the parks & recreation's disability program director, Caleb's balance and strength caught the eye of Randy Snow, a former Paralympian who was dating Adams.

Through a series of chance meetings, Adams was able to pass Caleb's name along to Mark Mast, an assistant coach with the Paralympic biathlon team. Although the kid never had heard of the sport, the combination of his balance, strength, endurance and marksmanship made Caleb a prime candidate to try out for the team.

"It was a combination of things Caleb possesses that made us believe he would be perfect for our sport," Mast said. "He's very physically fit, a really good shooter and has a determination that tells you he won't give up.

"He'll be getting great coaching so he won't develop bad habits so he should be competitive in a year, and we expect him to be at the top of the list of competitors within two years, ready to kick butt."