David is one of the many victims of violence of whom many Salvadorians face on a daily basis. With only 14 years of age, he was attacked, robbed and shot by gang members in his village. One of the shots damaged permanently his spinal cord, bounding him forever to a wheelchair.
Despite this tragedy, David’s strong character persevered and even with this life-changing setback, he never gave up and while working on the early stages of rehabilitation he started with wheelchair sports.
Now with 20 years, David has participated over the past years in multiple competitions with excellent results, which secured his participation this year in the Pan-American Paralympic games in javelin throw where he proudly represented El Salvador. He trains Monday through Friday in San Salvador and on the weekend, he rides the bus or someone nice enough drives him back to his village of San Luis Talpa over an hour away from San Salvador to catch up with schoolwork. This year he will be done with school and his wish is to pursue a degree at the university.
Life on a wheelchair is for anyone in this situation already difficult, but in El Salvador, things are even more so. Streets in David’s village are not even paved and “accessibility” is as good as unknown.
David’s specialized wheelchair is old and worn out. He is in need of a new one urgently but in a land with an overstrained health system with ho financial support, he cannot afford to pay for the wheelchair out of pocket.
We want to support David in buying a new specialized wheelchair, which will not only help him on his daily life, but which will allow him to train his discipline more comfortably on the mentioned chair. Sadly, it is not possible for us to fully finance this wheelchair without the need of additional donations. In addition, if possible, we would like to support him with training equipment for javelin throw, so he can better prepare for future competitions.
That’s why we want to start a donations campaign to lift the body and spirit of such a strong character to new heights and goals!
See below for some articles about David’s story and performance.
