Rhea Shares Message with Husker Athletes

By Joslyn Dalton
Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee
Women's Cross Country Representative

Lincoln - Nationally renowned speaker Joe Rhea shared his inspirational message with Nebraska student-athletes in an assembly setting organized by the Nebraska Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) on Sunday, Jan. 21.

The Life-Skills event encouraged student-athletes to think first, and dream big. At the age of 14, Rhea, a native of Kansas City, was paralyzed from the neck down while playing football. Deciding that a wheelchair was not going to dictate the remainder of his life, he worked hard to become nothing nothing short of a medical miracle.

First, Rhea took a straight-forward approach by educating his audience on the importance of attentive driving as most catastrophic head and spinal injuries occur during car accidents to the student-athletes’ age-group. He then shared his personal story of being forced to adapt and re-evaluate life in order to succeed after his accident. 

In Rhea's words: "Going through adversity doesn’t build character, it defines it."

Proud of his current golfing, snow-skiing, running and walking abilities, Rhea closed by reminding Nebraska's student-athletes to be thankful for the level they compete and not take it for granted.

"I think the message was powerful," NU sophomore track and field member Ari Goldstein said. "It was presented in a way that made me value and want to take care of the gifts I have been given."