Trunnell owns an embroidery enterprise known as Roxifi Embroidery that appeals largely to the horse neighborhood and offers her with an revenue. She makes blankets, saddle pads, ice boots, standing wraps, in addition to shirts and sweaters, “mainly something I can hoop and get a needle by way of,” Trunnell says, as a result of “if you wish to play within the sandbox with the large boys, you then’re going to need to pay.”
Carly Weilminster, senior director of sport communications and social media for the US Equestrian Federation (USEF), tells SELF that equestrian doesn’t have a nationwide staff, so athletes aren’t paid stipends, however they will obtain funding and grants “based mostly on efficiency and expertise” to offset prices related to worldwide journey and competitions. The identical is true of Paralympians in different sports activities, who can apply for a wide range of grants and funding that the USOPC and third-party organizations provide. However a few of those that spoke to SELF say these alternatives are restricted, not marketed properly, and nonetheless aren’t sufficient to cowl their bills. (The USOPC, in contrast to different nationwide Olympic and Paralympic committees, doesn’t obtain authorities monetary assist and is funded solely by donations from followers and sponsorships from industrial companions.)
Journey-related mishaps aren’t simple to get well from.
Attending to competitions as a disabled athlete additionally poses fairly huge monetary dangers. Brim says that almost each time she travels with a staff, not less than one particular person’s chair is misplaced or broken, regardless of providing airport workers detailed directions about tips on how to deal with the gear. “It’s an enormous bummer, and we wish to see change round it as a result of it’s simply so uncalled for.”
Brian Siemann, 34, a three-time track-and-field Paralympian, agrees. He says that airport workers want higher coaching on tips on how to transport and retailer wheelchairs as a result of they will take hundreds of {dollars} and a number of other months to exchange. “A mobility system ought to be in a totally totally different class of concern than somebody’s suitcase,” he tells SELF. When Siemann travels by way of aircraft, he can field up his roughly $15,000 racing chair fairly properly to keep away from harm, however he can’t do this along with his on a regular basis chair as a result of he wants it as quickly as he will get off a aircraft. (Wheelchairs might be taken on planes in the event that they aren’t motorized and might slot in overhead bins or different designated areas contained in the cabin, but when they don’t match they’re positioned within the cargo portion of the aircraft with checked baggage.)
Siemann’s on a regular basis chair prices about $7,000 as a result of it’s personalized to his physique, however his insurance coverage considers that “a luxurious,” that means it’s near unattainable to get it coated. So when an airport in Miami misplaced it and provided $100 as an apology, it was a “jarring expertise,” to say the least, he says. “There’s at all times the next than probably likelihood that some a part of your mobility system goes to be misplaced or broken, which then utterly impairs and restricts your skill to get round safely,” Siemann says. “And it’s not a fast repair for anybody,” significantly when sports activities gear is concerned.
Healthcare can get difficult and costly for athletes with disabilities.
It’s additionally tougher—bodily, sure, but additionally financially—for lots of Paralympic athletes to maintain themselves wholesome in comparison with their Olympic friends. Some disabilities usually require common medical consideration and might make athletes extra weak to sicknesses or stress due to the traumatic occasions or underlying situations that trigger them—all of which might get costly, particularly in international locations just like the US that don’t have common well being care.