Brent Poppen
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
May 24, 1973 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
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| Writing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | author, motivational speaker, rehab counselor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | biography, children's books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable works | Tragedy on the Mountain, Playground Lessons-Friendship & Forgiveness: Harley and his wheelchair | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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www www |
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| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |
 United States
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| Sport | Paralympics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | Team Rugby, Individual Tennis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National finals |
1996–1998, 2006, 2009–2010 National Quad Rugby Champion 2007 Japan Open Tennis Championships Doubles Champion |
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Medal record
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1996–1998, 2006, 2009–2010 National Quad Rugby Champion
Brent Poppen (born May 24, 1973) is a disability advocate, author, substitute teacher, and Paralympian.
He has authored two books, a biography titled "Tragedy on the Mountain," which details his journey from paralysis to Paralympics, and a children's book titled "Playground Lessons-Friendship & Forgiveness: Harley and his wheelchair."
Poppen was injured in a wrestling accident on February 18, 1990, while visiting a Christian church camp located in Lake Hume, California in the Fresno Mountain range of the Central Valley. As a result of the tumble where the boy Poppen was wrestling with fell on top of his head, Poppen's spinal cord suffered an incomplete break at the level of the sixth cervical vertebra, rendering him a quadriplegic immediately. He was air lifted from a rural hospital, Fresno Community Hospital, to Long Beach Memorial Hospital, where he spent three months rehabilitating, and was released on May 23, 1990. He was 16 years old at the time of his accident, and released from the hospital the day before his 17th birthday. He is considered a limited motion quadriplegic, since he has limited function in his arms and hands.
Poppen attended Millikan High School, in Long Beach, for his senior year shortly after his accident. He went on to earn his associate degree from Long Beach City College, and then his bachelor's degree in social science from Chapman University.
Poppen received his bachelor's degree, and subsequently his substitute teaching certificate, but is most widely known as an athlete. He has competed in two consecutive Paralympics, Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, two world games and numerous world team cups. He has a bronze medal from the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, where he competed with the American Wheelchair Rugby Team. He is a National Quad Rugby Champion 6 times over, from 1996–1998, and again in 2006. He was also one of the players on screen in "Murderball," an award-winning 2005 documentary about quadriplegics who play wheelchair rugby and the rivalry between the U.S. and Canadian teams leading up to the 2004 Paralympic Games.
Since retiring from the professional sporting arena, Poppen spends his summers teaching adaptive water skiing lessons, among other sports. He is an avid wakeboarder and spends much time on the water when possible.
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