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MU swings into Celebrate Ability Week

The University of Missouri swings into its 2012 Celebrate Ability Week with an adaptive golf demonstration at the MU Student Recreation Complex.

Dany Baker, who has golfed for more than 30 years, began participating in Celebrate Ability Week four years ago.

“I just want to help spread the awareness and help educate, so they can take it on as far as telling their hometown golf courses that they need to be accessible," Baker says.

In September 1993, Baker was a passenger in a one-vehicle accident, sustaining head injuries and a bruised spinal cord. After months of rehabilitation, he returned to golf using a specialized golf cart made for people with disabilities.

Monday, he gives lessons to both able-bodied and disabled golfers.

"Being in a chair is not the perfect scenario, and even though I’m smiling today, it doesn’t mean the chair is something you want to be in. It’s not that," Baker says. "I’ve learned to accept that I’m in a chair, and there’s a lot of people that are in a lot worse shape, so that’s why the smile’s on my face, and yes, I am enjoying my life."

Approximately 60 people attended Baker’s presentation Monday. Celebrate Ability Week continues Tuesday with guest speaker Matt Roloff, an ADA presentation and more.