Yurt dweller, organic eater, Paralympic snowboard hopeful - meet Evan Strong When Evan Strong was hit by an SUV traveling at 65 mph and thrown from his motorcycle at age 17, he came to a crossroads in his life. “Before my accident I was a professional skateboarder who was traveling around doing contests and demos for my sponsors,” said Strong, who is now a Paralympic snowboarding hopeful. But after his left leg was amputated, his life was suddenly faced with new challenges. “Do I take the road where I get depressed and let the accident get the best of me, or do I say yes to life and keep trying to do things I love?” he wondered. Thankfully the answer was the latter, and in seeking it he also found a new love — his passion for snowboarding. “When you’re given a second chance to live, it gives you a very powerful perspective,” he said. “Growing up I was always single-minded, I only wanted to skateboard. I really didn’t do anything else. But when I started to get my mobility back after my accident, I wanted to do anything and everything — just because I could.” One thing that was on that list was snowboarding. “As someone who grew up in Hawaii, I never got to snowboard,” he said. “But I started thinking — I bet I would love it. So I decided to move to Lake Tahoe to learn how to snowboard just so I could experience that. I got a job at a ski resort and got to ride 100 days my first year. I fell in love with it.” Something else Strong loves is nature, and it is the reason why he and his wife decided to build a yurt to live in. The structure, he said, is like “living in a giant tent. It’s a circular structure that brings the same experience as camping, except we have running water, a wood stove and a bathroom.” “This is the first yurt that we’ve built, but we’ve spent time in them before,” he said. “Three years ago we honeymooned in Maui and slept on a cliff in a yurt. It was so great waking up with the sun, going on the deck of the yurt and being able to see the ocean. Ever since then we’ve wanted to live in a structure like that.” The reason why it’s his favorite structure to reside in is because “it makes me feel closer to nature. The walls are made of canvas, so there isn’t a big separation between you and the outside. When the sun comes up, you can see the light coming through the walls. You can hear the wind and the trees. And I have a lot of wild turkeys and deer around my house so I can hear and see the creatures that live in my environment.” But those aren’t the only animals you’ll find around the Strong household. “My wife and I have two-dozen chickens, which actually lay blue eggs,” he said. Living off the land is something the 26-year-old grew up doing. “My dad grew a farm in Connecticut and my mom’s mother was really into organic healthy eating. As long as I can remember my diet has always been about organic whole foods.” But he says it wasn’t until after his accident that he took that lifestyle to a whole new level — and turned it into a business. “After my accident I got really into the raw food movement that’s been happening, and found that by eating those super foods it gave me a lot of energy and was helping me to recover quicker.” Strong then felt compelled to share what he had learned with other people, and decided to open an organic vegetarian restaurant. With the help of his wife and two sisters he started The Fix in Nevada City, Calif. almost four years ago. As someone who “grew up in this world of healthy eating,” the pro snowboarder offers three tips for anyone wanting to make the switch to a more organic lifestyle: 1) He believes that a big reason why people don’t bring organic food into their diet is because it’s too expensive, and they feel as if they’re not really getting anything from it. But he said what you don’t realize is you’re getting more nutrition. “Organic food has around 40-50 times more vitamins, minerals and enzymes than conventionally grown food — and I’ve found that to be very crucial, especially for an elite athlete.” One way you can cut down on the cost, he said, is to start your own garden. “Go to a nursery where they sell plants and ask about fruits and vegetables that grow well in your area. Or if you don’t have a lot of space, do a windowsill planter box; plant thyme, oregano, and basil. Grow all the fun culinary spices like herbs and Italian spices that are really medicinal and high in nutrients and antioxidants.” 2) “Find out where your local farmers’ market is. The great thing about them is you’re going to find things that are fresh and haven’t been shipped halfway around the world. You’ll be getting it directly from your local farmer.” 3) “Try to incorporate something fresh into every meal of the day. Generally people who shop the perimeter of the grocery store are healthier than the people who shop the center aisles. So find your favorite fruits and vegetables that you’re excited to eat and add them.” Strong said he was back on his skateboard within two years of his fateful accident. “I told myself if I could get one percent of my skateboarding abilities back I would feel accomplished,” he said. “And after I got it I was super excited — and immediately set another goal for myself.” To this day, he said, it’s just been a progression of setting goals and achieving them. “Now I’m the current world champion in snowboardcross [and I hope to be] representing my country at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi (where snowboarding will make its Paralympic debut) — and I’m a hopeful for gold. So achieving small goals can lead to the biggest thing in the world.” BY LISA COSTANTINI | JUL 10, 2013, 8:00 PM ET | |
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![]() Winner of seven World Cup titles, Evan Strong looks to make the inaugural U.S. Paralympic Snowboarding Team for Sochi 2014. Evan Strong grew up on Maui, where the only ice is shaved and served in cones or pina coladas, and winter sports are surfing, skateboarding and swimming. Today, he’s still a bit surprised that the former Hawaiian kid is now a snowboarding demon, a guy who’s getting impatient for winter storms to start dumping fresh powder all over the Sierra Nevada and Rockies. “When I go back home (to Maui) and see all my friends, it’s kind of hard for them to wrap their minds around it, because they really don’t know anything about it,” Strong said of his snowboarding career. “A lot of my friends haven’t even seen snow, but they’re all really stoked. … They don’t even know what I’m doing here or what it means, they just know it’s good.” In Strong’s case, it’s all good. The former kid skateboarding wiz in Hawaii, now 25, is a leading candidate for the U.S. Paralympic men’s snowboarding team at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, where the sport will make its Games debut. Until then, he’s enjoying mountain life in the little town of Nevada City, Calif., about an hour’s drive west of Lake Tahoe. It’s there that he and his wife, Mariah, are building their own home, operate their organic vegetarian restaurant, The Fix for Foodies, with their family, and Evan can feed his passion for snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking, rock climbing and any other outdoor activities that happen to catch his attention. Read More ![]() Kahuna Auntie Pua Mahoe marries Evan Rees Strong and Mariah Kari Fulcher in Keanae, Maui, Hawaii October 2, 2010. Evan Strong is in Kipahulu, Hana, Maui with his water bottle, machete and David Wolfe book on the search for wild spring water and coconuts. Evan grew up in Kipahulu. He now owns and runs a raw food vegetarian cafe called THE FIX in Nevada City, CA along with his sister Arianna and Mariah his wife. They are taking the video and commenting.
![]() When skateboarder Evan Strong lost his leg, he didn't lose his drive ... or perspective By Don Norcross STAFF WRITER November 16, 2005 Riding his motorcycle along the two-lane Hana Highway on Maui, Evan Strong was loving life. It was Nov. 3, 2004. Ten days shy of turning 18, he was a sponsored skateboarder, done with high school and a warm Hawaiian breeze was slapping him in the face. In a split second, his life would be forever changed. Strong saw a woman driving an SUV drop her head below the steering wheel as if to light a cigarette. The woman's car drifted into Strong's lane, sideswiping the vehicle in front of him. Then the SUV struck Strong. The next thing the teenager knew he was lying beneath a guardrail, his left leg shattered, one of the bones protruding from his skin. "My thigh was split open as big as a football," he said. As he assessed the damage, telling himself to breathe slowly or he might bleed to death, one thought consumed his mind. My mom is going to kill me. Three days later, Evan Strong's left leg was amputated six inches below the knee. One year, nine days after the accident, using a prosthetic limb given to him by the Del Mar-based Challenged Athletes Foundation, Strong was riding 35-40 mph on a skateboard down the famed Haleakala mountain. Earlier that day, he turned backflips on the family's new trampoline. "I do these things and I'm nervous," said Strong. "I don't know what's going to happen. But I felt an adrenaline rush going down one of the fastest hills on the island. I keep pushing my comfort zone, kind of surprising myself. It's new again. It just reminds myself what I'm capable of." Fear, it would seem, is not in Strong's vocabulary. When he was 13, Strong tried riding his skateboard down a 34-step rail. Tried it six times. "Basically, he couldn't walk (anymore), and that was the end of that," said Strong's friend, Soleil Brown. Strong would leap off 85-foot cliffs into pools of water. Weeks after losing his leg, he tried driving his stick-shift truck, using a crutch to push in the clutch. "I think we all discouraged him on that one," said Brown. Minutes after the accident, Strong, who was wearing a helmet, accepted that he was going to lose his leg. He feels blessed, remembering he thought he'd lose his leg above the knee. "I'm lucky to be alive," said Strong, who lost a massive amount of blood. "I'm really lucky not to have brain damage." Two weeks before the crash, Strong told his mother and older sister he sensed a big change approaching, one that might take his life. "He needed us to know it was OK, he was at peace with it," said Lisa Strong, Evan's mother. "He needed to know that we'd be at peace. He just had this attitude of acceptance and surrender." Subconsciously, Strong said for years he sensed he would lose a limb. He pondered the possibility so seriously that he decided if he were to lose a limb, he'd prefer it be one of his feet. "It's strange, I know," he said. Be it because he contemplated such a disaster or because he's surrounded by a loving family, Strong has not wallowed in misery. Recalled Lisa: "He said, 'People all over the world are losing limbs, losing lives. I didn't come in with any guarantees (bad things) wouldn't happen to me. People say, 'Why me? Why not me?' " Humor often being the best medicine, Strong can joke about his situation. A friend made him a wooden leg and Strong dressed for Halloween as a pirate. "If a real pirate saw me," said Strong, "he'd be jealous." Priding himself on his all-around skill, Strong could street skate, ride bowls and drop in on a vert ramp before the accident. "He was, by far, the top skater in Hawaii," said Brown. "He wasn't afraid to try anything." Strong has had his new prosthesis for only seven weeks and for now he's struggling to regain his skills. His goal is to recapture that old form. "Definitely," said Strong, when asked if he thinks he can get there. "Mind over matter." He is attending a community college and working at a surf shop. Before receiving his prosthesis, he golfed on one leg, driving 200 yards. He'd like to become a motivational speaker. Last month, Strong attended a Challenged Athletes Foundation function in La Jolla and was moved by socializing with so many talented athletes missing limbs. "It shows me having a prosthetic isn't a disability," he said. "It's just another challenge. You can whip able-bodied peoples' (butts) if you want, and I can't wait 'til I do that." Don Norcross: (619) 293-1803; don.norcross@uniontrib.com ![]() WAILUKU, HI – 06/07/2005 by Ilima Loomis - Maui News Skateboarders from all over Maui will come together Saturday for a “Skate-A-Thon” to benefit one of their own. Eighteen-year-old Evan Strong of Spreckelsville, who lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident last year, will receive money raised by the event. “We threw this together more as a friend thing, and then it grew beyond that,” said Blaze Anderson, deputy director of the Paia Youth and Cultural Center. The event, to run from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Paia center, will feature eight hours of skating, DJs playing music, a silent auction and a “win a date with Evan” raffle. Participants must raise at least $50 to join in. The money will be used to cover medical and living expenses for Strong, who plans to move to California this fall to attend college. More than 50 skateboarders have already signed up to raise funds, and Anderson hopes to have 100 by Saturday. Strong was hoping to become a professional skater before he lost his leg. After months of recuperation, he traveled to California in May to be fitted with a special, high-tech prosthesis. The flexible foot mimics natural movement, and it is equipped with shock absorbers to take the high impact of running or skating. Strong called the device a “sports leg” that would let him return to some of his old activities, including skateboarding. He’s already made a few trips to the skate park to test it out. “It feels really good to be able to roll around,” he said. San Diego organization Challenged Athletes donated the foot portion of Strong’s prosthesis. But because Strong had no medical insurance at the time of the accident, his recovery and the prosthesis were a financial hardship for the family, said his father, Roger Strong. The fundraiser will help offset some of those costs, he said. “Future care is covered (by insurance), but there’s a large amount of medical expenses,” he said. Evan Strong said he no longer expected to turn pro, but that he was sure he’d be able to skateboard again at a level that would make him happy. And in addition to starting college this fall, Strong will be starting an internship at NHS/Independent, one of his skate boarding sponsors that markets skateboard parts out of Santa Cruz. “Being a professional skater isn’t the only career in skating,” he said. Anderson said the idea for the fundraiser came about because Strong’s friends felt “helpless” after the accident. “After something like that happens to one of your friends . . . there’s not much you can do,” he said. He said Strong is respected by the Maui skating community because of his positive attitude. “He’s already been on the skateboard,” he said. “He’s really inspired and motivated, and he’s going to inspire tons of people.” Strong said that in addition to working with younger skaters, he hoped to raise awareness about motorcycle safety and the importance of wearing a helmet. “I’m living proof that helmets save lives,” he said. Roger Strong said his son makes no effort to cover up his prosthesis but uses it to help educate others. “It lets people see what can happen in a motorcycle accident, and people tend to listen to him,” he said. Evan said he appreciated the effort of the skating community to help him and his family. “I’m so grateful with the community, wanting to help me with my medical bills, physical therapy, the prosthesis, and just getting me back on my feet,” he said. |
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