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| YOUR TOWN: Caroline | Culpeper | King George | Fredericksburg | Orange | Spotsylvania | Stafford | Westmoreland | |
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Optimist stayed in booming business
Stafford man who was paralyzed in motorcycle wreck trying to start up fireworks business
Date published: 6/18/2009
BY BILL FREEHLING The inspiration for a 15-minute fireworks spectacular in Caroline County on Sunday night was a full-contact rugby game played in wheelchairs. Jake Walther was in a New Jersey rehab hospital in 2005 when he first saw "Murderball," a documentary that portrays a group of paraplegic rugby players. That June, Walther was in a motorcycle wreck in Memphis that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. His spinal column was knocked out of alignment, but not severed. Before the wreck, the Stafford County resident had been a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus lighting technician, climbing 40-foot trusses and fearlessly dangling upside down to plug in spotlights. In "Murderball," he learned the stories of other young men who had moved on with their lives after an injury confined them to a wheelchair. He decided he would do the same rather than assume a "woe is me" attitude. "I've always been an optimistic person," Walther said. "Why am I going to stop doing what I love?" One of his responsibilities with the circus had been indoor pyro-technics. As Walther slogged through the physical therapy that has let him regain some motion in his arms, he started thinking about putting on fireworks shows again. Last year Walther, now 27, put on his first fireworks shows since the injury. In March he ordered about $3,500 worth of fireworks, which he keeps in a secure storage facility in Stafford. On Sunday he set up and ran a show for about 150 people on the property of Dr. Patrick Neustatter off Pepmeier Hill Road in Caroline County. It was part of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fredericksburg's summer picnic. Walther attends that church. Now he's starting a business offering fireworks shows for holidays, graduations, weddings, birthdays or any event in the Fredericksburg area. "I just wanted to have fun and make a go at making money at it," Walther said. "If you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life." Walther is a member of The Crackerjacks, a regional fireworks club, and the Pyrotechnics Guild International. He can't set up or light the fireworks himself, but he knows how to direct others so it's just right.
Read more stories about Caroline Date published: 6/18/2009
Optimists will ALWAYS win
(posted by
thankyouvets
, June 19, 2009 9:00 am)
America was founded on the principle of optimism, and while we have had our share of setbacks, America has risen to the challenges presented us.
It is too bad that leaders in Washington do not have Jake's zeal and attitude!
God Bless you and maybe Samantha I will get the chance to meet him.
Keep the spirit my friend.
Go Jake!
(posted by
SamanthaF
, June 18, 2009 9:31 am)
If you don't have the pleasure to know him, you are missing out. He is an amazing person and has definently kept his head up. Love you Jakers!!
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