Team Yohe Wristbands

By Sean Moeller
Quad-City Times

While at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., last month, Andy Yohe casually flipped through a calendar and acknowledged Tuesday’s date.

It was the day — 12 years ago — when the 27-year-old’s life changed forever.

While messing around with a pack of five friends on salt mounds near Bettendorf’s 12th Street railroad crossing, Yohe — then a Bettendorf High School sophomore — had both of his legs partially severed after he tried to jump onto a moving train. His right leg was amputated at mid-thigh, and the left was amputated just below the kneecap, forcing him to adjust to a surreal life of impairment.

He still thinks about that day, but not for long.

“I thought about it a couple weeks ago,’’ Yohe said during a lunch break from his job at Miller-Meier Limb & Brace. “I was going through a calendar and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, that was the day.’ But it doesn’t bother me.

“It’s definitely something that sticks in my mind. It’s something I sometimes think about, but I don’t dwell on it.”

He’s too busy training for the 2006 Winter Paralympics, held a week after the conclusion of the Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, next March. Plus, he’s too busy mastering more sports since his accident than before it.

In June, Yohe tried out for the U.S. Paralympic sled hockey team and made the cut for the 20-man roster. He travels every other weekend to Colorado for training sessions as well as making visits to Colorado, Canada and Italy for exhibition tournaments.

Yohe started with wheelchair basketball and football before finding sled hockey three years ago, effortlessly taking to it shortly thereafter to become one of the best players in the country.

T.R. Swanwick, a close friend of Yohe’s, wants him to be even better. He’s ordered 600 rubber bracelets — in the same vein as the Lance Armstrong “LiveStrong” and countless other message bracelets — to raise money to buy Yohe a handcycle for extensive cardiovascular training. The handcycle, which costs between $1,300 and $4,000, is training he’s not afforded when away from the Olympic training facility.

Swanwick’s also trying to make up for not giving his bud a good enough birthday gift this year.

“We have a good group of friends. None of us buys each other birthday presents, but every year, I make sure to get him a great birthday present anyway. I didn’t get him anything this year, so I thought maybe this could be it,” Swanwick said. “The kid’s my idol. To see what he started at … he doesn’t take pity from people. He doesn’t accept it.”

The bracelets, the same yellow color as Armstrong’s much-copied prototype with the imprint “Team Yohe,” will be sold for $5. Proceeds go to buy the training equipment.

“Almost every guy on my team has one,” Yohe said. “It would be a big help because I can’t get a lot of cardio training in here (in the Quad-Cities). I can’t run or bike. I mostly just lift and try to schedule some ice (time at the Quad-City Sports Center) once or twice a week, but it’s hard. With one of those bikes, you know you can get in good shape.”

If only from his family and circle of friends, Swanwick has seen a strong demand since the bracelets got in last week. He’s hopes his efforts will make up for not being able to travel to Italy and support his friend in-person.

“There were 20-30 of us planning on going to Italy with him. I found out that I’m probably not going to be able to go now because I start graduate school in Australia the month before the Paralympics. It’s my way of being there with him,” Swanwick said.

He’s also hoping that there might be enough money left over to buy Yohe a mono ski, a sport he tried during free time on a recent training trip in Colorado.

Swanwick justified the goal, saying, “Just so he can take over in another sport.”

Sean Moeller can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or at smoeller@qctimes.com.

Breakout

Team Yohe bracelets

Bracelets can be purchased at ReMax Real-Estate office, 4555 Utica Ridge in Bettendorf.

For more information on buying a Team Yohe bracelet, send an e-mail to T.R. Swanwick at trswanwick@aol.com

Team Yohe bracelets

Bracelets can be purchased at ReMax Real-Estate office, 4555 Utica Ridge in Bettendorf.

For more information on buying a Team Yohe bracelet, send an e-mail to T.R. Swanwick at trswanwick@ aol.com