Good NewsAmputee wrestling champion Nick Ackerman gives back
In 2001, Nick Ackerman won the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship. His win made international headlines because he achieved it without the use of his legs.
NCAA Champion Magazine called the win the No. 1 Most Dramatic Championship Victory in NCAA history. You can see Ackerman in action in a more recent bout below.
When Ackerman was 18 months old, a bout of bacterial meningitis claimed his legs below the knees.
He grew up trying every kind of sport, using prosthetic limbs to propel himself across baseball diamonds and soccer fields. Ackerman's parents allowed the athletic boy to take risks, careful not to infere with his dreams.
"I always thought I was the normal one," Ackerman told TODAY.com. "I used to break the legs off my G.I. Joe action figures, to make 'em cool like me."
Today, 10 years after his inspiring win, the 31-year-old Ackerman works with other amputees — particularly the difficult patients — fitting them for prosthetics and providing much-needed emotional support.
After his wrestling win, Ackerman graduated from Iowa's Simpson College with a major in environmental biology. His park-ranger dreams were rerouted when he received a call from an amputee, seeking his help. He headed off to medical school and then went to work for American Prosthetics and Orthotics in Davenport.
"This is my fit; it's where I fit into the whole scheme of things, I guess, I don't want to get too deep," he told the Quad-City Times. "It's what I do, and I enjoy it every day."
Ackerman currently works with a young wrestling amputee from Indiana. Evan Light, 11, aspires to athletic superstardom. He's found a kindred spirit in Ackerman.
The older champion designed a custom pair of wrestling shoes for the young amputee, adopted from Calcutta, and provides an example of excellence.
"If I had an opportunity to have my legs, I wouldn't take it," Ackerman told the young boy. "I wouldn't! I like where I'm at."
When Ackerman's not at work, he's a dedicated family man — he and his wife, Rachel, have a 2-year-old son, Mason, and another son on the way.
