A loyal member of the Conquerors Paragolf Team, Don Burns personifies the Marine Corps’ “can-do”/”never give up spirit”. Read this great article on Don’s recent experience in adaptive military wheelchair basketball. Read more…..
Playing Through Pain | PN Online
Via pnonline.com | View Online
- Author: John Groth
- Date: April 27, 2024
- Categories: Sports & Recreation
- Tags: NWBA, veterans sports
Wolfpack, Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets To Meet In Military Division Championship Game
Wheelchair basketball means so much to Donald Burns.
So much — that about three months after having his left leg amputated, he decided he was going to play for the Wolfpack Vets in this weekend’s National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) Military Division National Championships at Turnstone Center for Adults & Children With Disabilities in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Despite being in pain and his leg still healing, the 44-year-old Marine Corps veteran went ahead and made his military team debut.
“I didn’t wait for the release,” says Burns on Saturday morning.
Burns and the Wolfpack went 2-0 during Saturday’s second day and will end up playing in Sunday’s championship game. The Wolfpack Vets defeated the Florida Renegades, 46-43, in overtime in one semifinal, while the Charlotte Rollin’ Hornets defeated ParaSport Spokane, 58-49, in the other semifinal.
After letting an eight-point fourth-quarter lead slip away, the Wolfpack closed out and knocked off the Florida Renegades, who had been undefeated and were trying to repeat after winning the inaugural Military Division title last year at Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Ala.
Burns was determined to play this weekend. That’s despite having surgery Jan. 16 and having his left leg amputated.
(update , The Wolfpack did win the championships!!)
He’d play a quarter and then take a quarter off to help it heal. But it was still swelling and tender to touch, and he admitted he was in a lot of pain.
“I’m giving it a break, trying not to stress out,” Burns says. “But you can’t help but play hard on the court.”
Burns, who served as an operations chief from 1998 to 2019, has played wheelchair basketball since 2019. He says his foot was injured during a training accident, and he had a Lisfranc injury, or an injury to the foot where metatarsal bones are displaced from the tarsus. He says neither the Marine Corps or Navy approved him for surgery, so a lot of bone decay occurred. He also tried a mid-foot fusion, but eventually the foot fell apart and doctors said it wasn’t salvageable.
So finally, after missing last year’s NWBA Adult Division and Military Division Championships, he decided to go ahead and play in the Military Division tourney this year. No matter the pain. He wanted that camaraderie again — and he liked his Wolfpack team.
“You know, in the military, there’s a lot of camaraderie,” Burns says. “And you have a team. So, you know who you can rely on for what. And that still applies on the court. You know what you can get out of one person. And you know what you can get out of the next person. So, you play to their strengths.”