By Kathi Stearns

Bill Furbish adjusts his “Killer Loop” hat and sunglasses unloads his ski board from his van and heads for the dock.

He takes a swallow of Gatorade before immersing himself in the water. He directs the boat driver to bring him up to the speed that he feels will bring him victory in next week’s National Water-ski Championships. He smiles, turns to a friend and yells, “I’d like to get close to my P.R. (personal record) today.”

Nicknames “Turbo” by his friends, Furbish, a parishioner at Our Lady of the Assumption, Atlanta is no different than any other athlete in his desire to win. But the challenges he faces are a little different. Furbish, 32, is a quadriplegic in training for the 1994 National Disabled Water-ski Championships in Bartow, Fla.

If he qualifies, he will be a member of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, representing the United States for the second time in international competition.

In 1993 he competed in the World Disabled Water-ski Championships in Roquebrune, France, as a member of the U.S. team. He captured the overall title, placing first with a world record performance in the jump event, second in slalom and third in tricks.

“Water-skiing is one of the sports in which you are on an equal playing field with everybody else, whether they are able bodied or disabled,” he said. “You leave your wheelchairs on the docks. It is almost as if you forget about your disability because you just don’t have the chair around.”

At 22, Furbish sustained a spinal injury as a result of a diving accident. It was June 6, 1985, one day after completing his final exams at Georgia Southern College.

“I was out celebrating with friends,” he said. “We were drinking and just having a good time. We ended up at an Ogeechee River bridge and I dove into the water. I should have jumped feet first because the river was shallow. I broke my neck and as a result of that accident I’m paralyzed from the chest down.”

The initial evaluation of his condition was made at Bulloch Memorial Hospital. Within hours he was transferred to Savannah Memorial Hospital where he remained for eight days while he was evaluated. Furbish was then transferred to the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta for the duration of his rehabilitation. He was discharged from Shepherd in October 1985.

“Nothing tragic had ever happened before to anyone I really knew or anyone in my family,” he said. “Right after my accident I did not directly deny it; it was more of a non-acknowledgement or non-acceptance sort of thing. It was like, ‘This is no big thing; I’ll get over this.”

After spending two months at Shepherd, Furbish was operated on to stabilize his medical condition. Afterward he was forced to wear a neck brace for six weeks to support the bones in his neck.

“When I took off that neck brace…the reality of the situation hit home, big time,” he said. “There was a sadness…the reality of being in a wheelchair the rest of my life really got to me. Everything kind of goes in cycles…you go round and round with anger, denial and depression until you finally start coming into yourself again. When your self starts to emerge you start to take back you independence. Everything just needs time to evolve.”

During rehabilitation he relied upon the foundation of his Catholic faith. “Growing up and going to Catholic schools all my life I have always been a big believer, but I’ve never been what I’d call a devout Catholic…but still it has been the base from which I draw my strength and support,” he said. “It has been the combination of community, family and religion in which I have found the strength to deal with my situation.”

Furbish wears a crucifix, which he received during his rehabilitation, and a medallion of the Blessed Mother, which Pope John Paul II blessed when his mother traveled to Rome this June for Archbishop John Donoghue’s pallium presentation.

Water skiing is not the only sport in which Furbish has excelled. As a wheelchair racer he won a gold and a bronze medal at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, Korea. Furbish also earned a gold and silver medal at the 1987 World Championships in Aylesbury, England. He started racing as a member of the Peachtree Spinners, a wheelchair racing team sponsored by the Shepherd’s Center and has competed in the Peachtree Road Race numerous times. He does not expect to race in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta.

“I was introduced to it (wheelchair racing) during rehab and then pursued it when I got out of rehab…It really came down to a matter of time,” he said. “As my career started to take off, the time I spent racing decreased. Wheelchair racing is so big and competitive on an international level you almost have to commit to it full time. I just couldn’t stay at the competitive level.”

In 1988 he and his friend Bert Burns formed a ‘quad’ rugby team called, “Rolling Thunder.” Furbish was voted their most valuable player in 1993. In 1992 and 1993 he received an invitation to compete on the U.S. Quad Rugby team.

Furbish feels that the camaraderie shared with other disabled people is more important than the competition itself. While awaiting their opportunity to ski, the quadriplegic, paraplegic and amputee athletes discuss their personal records and develop an informal support group among themselves.

“Disabled people come into our environment and they are surrounded with support because everybody understands what is going on,” he said. “There is no need to explain or attempt to educate people. One can automatically let down his defenses and learn form other disabled people. You learn more from those who have been through it than from the most caring therapists in rehab.”

Furbish also believes it is essential to be able to laugh. He trains at what he and other disabled athletes call “One Leg Lake” in Griffin.

“If you can’t laugh and look at your situation lightheartedly, then you are in trouble,” he said. “You’ve got to hang on to the people and the friendships more than the sports of competition.”

He credits his family and friends with his accomplishments throughout the years. “I don’t know where I’d be professionally, spiritually, financially or emotionally without them.”

As a career Furbish works for the Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee developing advanced computer systems in support of the 1996 games, which will take place that August following the Olympics.

Furbish believes that international competitions can affect the attitudes of entire societies toward people with disabilities.

Knowing first-hand the difficulties experienced by quadriplegics, Furbish teaches children with disabilities to water-ski and play rugby. He is also a member of a peer support group at Shepherd Spinal Center.

“People were there for me after I got hurt,” he said. “The sports and the encouragement of others helped me to get on with my life and, in a way, to recapture it. It’s neat to know that I can help someone regain his personal independence.”

Furbish received the distinguished alumni award from Georgia Southern College and from St. Pious X High School. He has been recognized by President George Bush for outstanding public service and was the recipient of the 11 Alive Community Service Award.

“I’m a big advocate that people should be allowed to assume whatever risks they choose as long as they understand what the consequences of those risks are,” he said. “I don’t think it is anybody’s place to tell someone that they can’t do something. I hear that all the time.”

And with that Furbish puts his ski back on and heads back into the water to practice. A friend remarks, ‘Furbish does have a need—a need for speed,” as he watches him hit the waves again.