• Are you a veteran, or a therapist working with veterans, interested in sharing your story of how Permobil carries out its mission of serving those that served us? Share your experience with us today!

Bam Bam's Story

How Adaptive Powerlifting Opened the Doors to Independence

Ben “Bam Bam” Weisfeld is an American veteran who has a serious passion for adaptive powerlifting. We were lucky enough to speak with him about his life and his trip to the National Veteran Wheelchair Games Orlando, Florida this July 30^th – August 4th. Bam Bam loves proving to people the vast capabilities of a person in a wheelchair and wants other wheelchair users to think, “Well, maybe I can do this too.”

Bam Bam was born in Memphis, Tennessee and has been a wheelchair user since 1999. He was injured in a training exercise that left him paralyzed and in a deep state of depression. After talking with his kids, Bam Bam realized giving up on this fight was not an option. Bam Bam calls this realization the day he “woke up” and knew that he couldn’t just sit on the sidelines and let the world pass him by. He had to relearn almost every aspect of his daily life but persevered because, “You gotta make it work for ya!”

Bam Bam loves music and motorcycles, but his greatest passion is competitive adaptive powerlifting. He wants to show people that, “Wheelchair users are not home bound. We can do almost anything on our own and people don’t seem to understand that. I want disabled people and able-bodied people to know that the only limitations in life are ones we make ourselves.” At the end of July, Bam Bam is participating in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG) powerlifting competition and is working towards getting the event in the next Paralympics. We asked him if any products have helped him succeed in this field and he said, “My TiLite has been great to me. The closer foot plate and easy maneuverability have really helped with day-to-day life, although, I’d like to see something that can support my heaviest lifts!” If you’d like to learn more about the NVWG or donate to the cause visit: http://wheelchairgames.org/.