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Evan's StoryEvan lost both feet in an accident that occurred in his native country, India, at about 9 months of age. The accident likely claimed the life of his birth mother and he was taken to the Nava Jeevan Children’s Home in Calcutta. From there, the Light family adopted him in 2001 at 20 months of age and brought him home to join his 3 new sisters.
At a very early age, Evan attacked athletic endeavors with the heart of a lion. As a child and into his teen years, he wrestled, played football, basketball, soccer, golf, tennis, and slow-pitch softball. He also enjoyed water sports especially wake-boarding. He performed well in all of these sports; however, as he grew, limitations became apparent with his prosthetics.
Evan’s latest generation of prosthetic legs truly are the next best thing to growing new legs, but we had to search for the one person in the world who had the creativity and ingenuity to invent these legs. Evan’s custom-made wrestling “shoes” have enabled him to fully develop his wrestling skills, allowing him to compete at a championship level with able-bodied wrestlers. Evan has these state-of-the art prosthetics because we were able to find Greg Davidson, a very caring man and skilled prosthetist in the Seattle area. The wrestling shoes are the handiwork of Nick Ackerman in Des Moines. We were blessed to be able to travel to those locations to obtain solutions that have changed Evan’s life.
As a high school athlete, Evan wrestled at a championship level winning conference, sectional, and regional titles in Indiana. He also was a member of the Penn High School tennis team. Upon moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for his senior year, Evan decided to play football (something he had not done since middle school) and quickly contributed to the team. After an undefeated season at the Dunham School, Evan was named first-team all-district as a kicker. He also wrestled at Dunham where he earned a third-place finish at the Louisiana State Championship tournament.
He would likely not have accomplished the athletic success he has had without innovative equipment crafted by talented and caring prosthetists, Nick Ackerman and Greg Davidson.
Evan actively promotes the AJOY Foundation, a charity named in his honor.
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Matt Branch Back on 2 Legs!!! May 24, 2019 Matt Branch has worked tirelessly over the past 5 months to get back on his feet. His attitude of fearlessness and determination have made him seemingly unconquerable! On Monday, May 20, Matt and his family traveled to Joliet, Illinois to begin working... |
One Miracle After Another for Matt Branch Mar 6, 2019 When Matt Branch and friends gathered for an annual hunting trip just after Christmas 2018, the last thing on anyone’s mind was that a dog would jump up onto the back of a Polaris Ranger and hit the safety and trigger of a shotgun causing an accidental shooting. Matt... |
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