GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — While others might see a disability as an obstacle, Lee Montgomery has discovered an opportunity.
"If I can share and encourage or make someone feel all excited about life, then that’s what it’s all about," Montgomery told 24 Hour News 8 Friday.
Born with a birth defect, his legs were amputated when he was just 3 years old. But at age 14, he discovered wheelchair basketball at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Center in Grand Rapids, and everything changed.
"When you tell me I can't do it? Well, that just gave me a challenge right there," Montgomery, now 61, explained.
That attitude has propelled him to a massively successful sports career. He's competed internationally in tennis, volleyball, and in basketball. In 2015, he was inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame.
"Wheelchair sports, like I said, was a gate-opener to me: To start accepting who I am," Montgomery said.
Now he's also helping others accept themselves by coaching young athletes at Mary Free Bed.
FULL STORY: WOOD TV