Finding a renewed sense of purpose can be challenging, especially for those who have faced life-altering injuries. For some veterans, sports have become a beacon of hope and community, as evidenced by the journey of Matthew Spang and Dan Hendrix, who have rekindled their passion for basketball despite facing significant physical challenges.
Matthew Spang’s Journey Back to Basketball
Matthew Spang, an Army veteran, has always been passionate about basketball. However, during a deployment to Afghanistan in 2011, an incident drastically changed his life. “My truck hit two IEDs… it crushed my legs, my feet and ankles and broke my legs,” Spang recounted. This event left Spang with devastating injuries, leading to the loss of both legs and a drastic change in his lifestyle.
Spang’s love for basketball didn’t wane. He eventually joined the Colorado Silverbacks, a team in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. This opportunity not only reignited his passion for the sport but also provided him with a supportive community of fellow veterans. “It definitely gave me a new purpose. I got to meet other veterans and we traveled around the country,” Spang shared.
Dan Hendrix’s Search for Purpose
Dan Hendrix, a fellow Army veteran and player/coach for the Silverbacks, shares a similar story. During his military service, Hendrix suffered a severe injury during a parachute jump. “I was doing a practice jump. It was my 812th jump… I got complacent, made a mistake, and it turned out to be a pretty big mistake,” he said.
Hendrix, like Spang, found comfort and solace in wheelchair basketball. “I found my purpose again when I found basketball; it gives me that feeling of having my guys back and having a sense of purpose again,” Hendrix explained. For him, the sport offers more than just competition; it provides mentorship, camaraderie, and a way to maintain physical and mental health.
The Bigger Picture
The Colorado Silverbacks offer veterans a chance to connect and find motivation beyond the basketball court. Spang emphasized, “There’s something out there for everybody, you just gotta find it… something that will get you off the couch and give you a new purpose in life.”
As the Silverbacks prepare for their first game at the Military and Women’s Wheelchair Basketball National Championships in Colorado Springs, the team embodies the military ethos of “adapt and overcome.” Hendrix noted, “We have a saying in the military, adapt and overcome, and that’s kind of what being in this situation is, you know, you don’t know what the situation is going to be, but you have to adapt, and you have to overcome.”
