LLUAHSC - Spring 2002 Newscope

Newscope

LLUMC rehab outpatients carry the Olympic torch

[SCOPE, Spring 2002]

Gina Cooper-Barnes carried the Olympic torch on January 15 at Dana Point in San Juan Capistrano.

Gina Cooper-Barnes and Rudy Garcia-Tolson shared a special privilege this winter; both Southern California residents were Olympic torch bearers.

Neither of them have legs.

Both went to Loma Linda University Medical Center for help.

Ms. Cooper-Barnes, a 35-year-old mother of two, lost her hands, legs, and hearing in a bout against bacterial streptococcus in October of 1998.

Working with her certified prosthetist and orthotist Karl Barner, Loma Linda University Health Care Rehabilitation Institute, Ms. Cooper-Barnes learned to use prosthetics to move around.

On January 15, the Beaumont resident carried the torch in her electric right arm at Dana Point in San Juan Capistrano. Her run of the .2-mile stretch began at 7:15 a.m.

The early morning light provided a fitting background for the dramatic walk as nearly 30 relatives and friends cheered

Ms. Cooper-Barnes. Riding most of the way in her wheelchair, she climbed out and walked the last 50 yards.

Three days after Ms. Cooper-Barnes carried the torch, it passed into the hands of 13-year-old Rudy Garcia-Tolson.

Rudy Garcia-Tolson, whose legs were amputated at age 5, carries the Olympic torch through San Francisco on Friday, January 18.1

Born with Pterygium Syndrome and faced with life in a wheelchair, Rudy opted instead to have his legs amputated when he was only 5 years old. Living with his family in Bloomington, he is now a triathlete—running, biking, and swimming.

Rudy ran holding the torch in San Francisco, hometown of his friend, comedian Robin Williams, who nominated him for the event. His stretch took him over Fillmore Street from the sign “Lombard” to the intersection of Union at Fillmore.

Rudy also spoke at the opening ceremonies of the Paralympics on March 7 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Willie Stewart, operations manager at Loma Linda’s Drayson Center, became a two-time torch bearer as the Olympic flame neared its destination. Mr. Davidson and Mr. Barner helped craft a prosthetic arm for Mr. Stewart to carry the torch in Washington, D.C., and Salinas.

“I’m faster now than I was at 18,” Mr. Stewart said after just turning 40. He travels to Sun Valley, Utah, to train for cross-country skiing races. “When I was a wrestler, I had to run 10 miles a day to keep my weight off, and I hated it,” Mr. Stewart said. Now that he skis, he doesn’t mind it so much. “Skiing and running just go together.”

The torch was not Mr. Stewart’s first encounter with the Olympics. In 1994, he participated in the exhibition of cross-country skiing in Lilihammer.
He also raced in the Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, in March.

[SCOPE, Spring 2002]