Like many athletes, Philip Carvalho ’08 enjoys participating in marathons and cycle rides. He recently completed a 418-mile, week-long ride in Iowa with a hand cycle.
Diagnosed with a rare arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in his spinal cord at age 17, Carvalho went from walking to being in a wheelchair in just 10 years, but that hasn’t slowed him down. He graduated from Westfield State in 2008 and Florida A&M University College of Law in 2013. Carvalho currently works for the Social Security Administration in Birmingham, Alabama.
Joining a support group through the Greater Orlando Spinal Cord Injury Network helped Carvalho develop a positive attitude about his life transformation.
“I stopped thinking about what I couldn’t do and thought about what I could do and what I want to do,” Carvalho says.
Though he was not outdoorsy or athletically inclined before his diagnosis, Carvalho began to search for a physical activity to try once he was no longer able to walk. He was introduced to hand cycling though a clinic held by Achilles International, an organization that enables peoples with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream athletics. He was instantly hooked.
“Being in a wheelchair, society sees you as confined, but hand cycling is an activity I can do 100 percent on my own,” Carvalho says. “It gives me freedom.”
Carvalho tackled his first ride in 2013 and quickly moved on to other races, completing several marathons and half marathons over the course of a year. Looking to further challenge himself, Carvalho signed up for The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, a 418-mile ride across Iowa in July 2014.
Clocking 100 miles a week for four months leading up to the ride, Carvalho trained vigorously for the six-day ride, which he completed with the Adaptive Sports Team of Iowa, which is composed of 30 athletes with various disabilities.
“It was a pretty awesome feeling to finish with our whole team,” Carvalho says. “We were strangers at the beginning of the week. It was a good feeling to go in and make friends.”
Carvalho continues to race and hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon within the next few years. He uses his success stories to mentor others with spinal cord injuries. His main piece of advice is to keep on pushing.
