Kevin Saunders

The grain elevator’s silos (14-stories tall, 40 ft in diameter with reinforced walls up to 3 ft thick) were destroyed in seconds. There was massive loss of life as many grain elevator employees were either killed by the blast instantly or succumbed to fatal injuries in the moments that followed. Many others suffered severe, life-altering injuries requiring extended hospitalization.

He was instantly knocked unconscious and was blown through the roof of the building. Paramedics found Saunders over 300 ft away, a crumpled mass lying in a pool of blood on a concrete parking lot. Saunders’ injuries were so severe that he was “black-flagged” and not expected to survive. Because all ambulances on the scene were occupied by other survivors, Saunders was placed into a station wagon and driven to Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital. His injuries included a fractured skull, collapsed lungs, shattered scapulas, various internal and external injuries and a severed spine at (T5). His body was broken over at the chest like most people bend at the waist when they bend to touch their toes. Doctors gave him less than 1% chance of survival.

As the explosion garnered national news coverage, doctors worked to first stabilize Saunders’ condition, and then to begin treating some of the injuries. He would spend nearly a year in the hospital and in rehabilitation, before being released in a wheelchair, completely paralyzed from the chest down. Saunders faced a difficult transition to life as a paraplegic, experiencing bouts of depression and emotional distress. Saunders credits former rugby teammates and workout partners, Robert Hays and Bruce Acuna, with forcing him to get back into the gym where he began strength training.

In 2016, Saunders was inducted into the Hall of Fame, recognized for his outstanding achievements as a multiple World & International Champion, multiple Paralympic medalist, multiple Pan American Games medalist and World and Paralympic record holder.

Also in 2000, Kevin Saunders was nominated by Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas, and received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in Washington, D.C.

In 1995, Saunders was recognized as Distinguished Alumnus from Kansas State University College of Agriculture. Saunders has also been recognized among Kansas State's 30 most famous alumni.[5]

In 1994, Saunders became the only person to be reappointed to the Council by President Bill Clinton. He served on the Council until 2000. Under President George W. Bush, Kevin was named to a Commission by the PCFSN and the US Department of Health and Human Services to come up with a plan to improve fitness and health for people with disabilities.

After winning the World Track & Field Championships in England in 1989, Saunders was declared "The World's Greatest All-Around Wheelchair Athlete".[1] At the 1992 Paralympic Games Trials in Salt Lake City, Utah, Saunders broke the pentathlon world record, simultaneously setting a new Paralympic record. Saunders‘ athletic career as an elite wheelchair athlete spanned from 1984 to 2014, when he won the USA Track & Field (USATF) Half Marathon Championship in Houston, Texas.

In 1989, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole nominated Saunders to serve on the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition (PCFSN). After meeting with President George H. W. Bush, Saunders became the first person with a disability to serve on the council, working alongside Chairman Arnold Schwarzenegger and other notable health and fitness experts. Saunders was one of just 20 individuals chosen to serve on the PCFSN during the Bush Administration (1989-1993).

In 1984, Saunders won the bronze medal in the National Wheelchair Athletic Association's Track and Field competition in Johnson City, Tennessee. He would go on to win hundreds of medals in both domestic and international competitions.

Saunders became a motivational speaker and consultant in 1984, shortly after winning the bronze medal at the USATF Championships in Johnson City, Tennessee. In 1989, Saunders worked alongside Tom Cruise and Oliver Stone as a principal actor during the filming of Born on the Fourth of July.

In 1983 (two years after his injury) Saunders, who had moved to Greenville, South Carolina, was persuaded by his brother Gerald to try entering his first wheelchair race, the Peachtree Road Race held in Atlanta, Georgia, every year on July 4. Though untrained in the discipline and lacking proper material, he participated, and this led to his entering competitions, finding success at the regional, and then national levels.

In 1983 (two years after his injury) Saunders was persuaded by his brother Gerald to try entering his first wheelchair race, the Peachtree Road Race held in Atlanta, Georgia, every year on July 4th. Saunders signed up, though he had only participated in wheelchair basketball and had never trained for a wheelchair race. About the experience, Saunders has said, “I didn’t even know how long the course was. I could understand distance in miles, but didn’t have a point of reference for how far one kilometer was, let alone 10K.”.

After graduating from college, Saunders began training to become a federal inspector for the USDA. An accident in April 1981, at a grain elevator in Corpus Christi, Texas, wounded him severely, and left him in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down.

Corpus Christi Public Grain Elevator explosion On April 7, 1981, at the age of 23, Saunders identified and reported safety hazards at the Corpus Christi Public Grain Elevator, in Corpus Christi, Texas. He submitted recommendations outlining a temporary shutdown of the facility, and necessary repairs to resolve problems with the failing dust collection system. Management representatives met with the head engineer and declined to act on the inspection report, opting instead to continue normal operations.

Saunders attended college on athletic scholarships for football, track and field, and soccer. He transferred to Kansas State University, majoring in agricultural economics. While at KSU, he joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and continued to play sports until graduating from the university in 1978.

Saunders attended college on athletic scholarships for football, track and field, and soccer. He transferred to Kansas State University, majoring in agricultural economics. While at KSU, he joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and continued to play sports until graduating from the university in 1978. Kansas State University lists Saunders as a member of its Acclaimed Alumni in sports.

At graduation in 1974, Saunders met U.S. Senator Bob Dole, a fellow Kansan, who spoke at the commencement exercises for Downs High School. Twenty six years later, Dole would play a pivotal role in introducing Saunders to President George H. W. Bush, and recommending him for the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.

Kevin Saunders (born December 8, 1955, in Smith Center, Kansas) is an American paralympian and author. He was the first person with a disability appointed to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition, and remains the only person to serve two consecutive terms under different administrations, first under President George H. W. Bush, and later reappointed by President Bill Clinton.