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ABOUT ME
The first romanian in a wheelchair on Guinness World Records... Vasile Stoica!!!
Banner exchanges Sponsors Art Gallery Landscapes Abstract Modern Web Design Sponsors Newspaper Articles Contacts Links Friends HomeABOUT ME My name is VASILE STOICA and I was born in June 1970 into the village of Maguri Racatau from the Cluj region in Romania into a large and poor family made up of three sisters and four brothers, me being the fourth born. Up to the age of seven I spent lots of time moving from one hospital to another, suffering 13 operations at both legs, because I was born with a congenital paraplegia. Unfortunately these interventions didn't help me too much so that I was forced to spend my whole life as a wheelchair user. I spent my childhood at the special school no 9 from the village of Jucu de Sus in the Cluj region, where I graduated VIII forms among the physically disabled people. During that time I didn't have even a wheelchair. I was a "crawler". That was the name given in Jucu to the children who moved using only their hands because they didn't have any wheelchairs. In 1985 my father died and from then on the hardships began because he was the one who provided for the family. In 1991 I arrived in Lugoj where I graduated from the painting Department of the Art School . Painting was a hobby of mine even from childhood. My gift was appreciated; I took part in art exhibitions and tried to support myself from painting. Beginning with 1992 after a visit to France I saw that the disabled people practiced sports as well and that's how I decided to become a wheelchair sportsman myself. In the spring of 1993 The Association of Physically Disabled People from Lugoj whom I was a member was invited to participate at the European Conference of the Disabled People, which was held in Siofok in Hungary. Than I decided to make the wholedistance from Lugoj to Siofok by wheelchair as a gesture of friendship. I rode 340 Km in 4 days. InMay 1993 I took part into the Challenge DAY marathon which was held in Bucharest . I was thefirst wheelchair user from Romania who took part in this marathon . In August 1993 I started into a new tour . This time I wanted to arrive in France. The Marathon ofcourage meant 3400Km. distance that I rode alone by wheelchair in 40 days. I rode throughHungary, Austria, Germany and France. The aim of this tour was my participation at the nationalconference of the BOUGIES De NOEL. My tour was a gesture of friendship and a way of thankingto all the people and associations who had helped the disabled people from Romania. My courageof starting alone in this tour set an example for all the disabled people from Romania. I became apublic person known and appreciated both in Romania and abroad. The fact that Mrs. DANIELLEMITTERAND herself at the Elysée Palace received me proves that my gesture was highlyappreciated. I came back home and began training and participating together with other mates fromLugoj at sports competitions for disabled people. In a short while I became a champion in the speedand resistance wheelchair competitions. In 1994 I established in Lugoj the Sports Club of thePhysically Disabled people MARATHON '93 Lugoj. I was nominated the sport club president. In a short while our club became the strongest disabled people club in the country. In 1995 I decided to start on a new tour. This time it was A WHEELCHAIR WORLD TOUR, with the aim of participating at the opening of the PARALYMPIC GAMES in ATLANTA.I left Bucharest on the 15 May 1995. I rode through RUMANIA, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA, POLAND,SWEDEN, DENMARK, GERMANY, HOLLAND, BELGIUM, and FRANCE. Unfortunately at the Spanish border I was forced to abort the tour, because I couldn't find any sponsors. I was very sad because of this event since my physical condition was very good and the participation at the PG. was a very cherished dream. I didn't give up, though, I continued to train myself and to hopethat one day I will succeed. In May 1998, I began a ROUND THE WORLD TOUR by wheelchair . I returned in May 1999,after crossing parts of Europe,(Romania, Hungary, Austria, Germany, France), Canada, U.S.A.,Australia (est coast from Melbourne to Cairns), North Africa (Egypt), Turkey, Bulgaria andRomania. On October 20-21, 2001,VALENCIA, CA , I broke the Guinness World Record for covering thelongest distance in a wheelchair in 24-hours. I beat the existing 77.58 mile record in 19 hours and16 minutes. I continued to go more laps around the 400-meter track for a final 24-hour record of 82miles. The event ended with a group of neighborhood children running the last lap.My world record is part of BROKEN WINGS, a new documentary series about extraordinarydisabled people being produced by Amphion Productions (http://www.amphionpro.com/ /http://www.chiptaylor.com). On May 28, 20003 I became the first paraplegic to travel Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago ,journeying completely on my own and powered only by my hands. I undertook this amazing 66-day feat to raise awareness for disability issues in my home country, as well as gather funds for theAssociation for the Physically Disabled of Lugoj in Rumania, which recently lost its centralheadquarters and one of its members to a fire. On 2006 I make an other trip from Romania to Spain (Finisterre) and back to Germany (Düsseldorf). 7,375 kilometers in 100th days . In 2008 I started a new trip by a handbike adapted to my wheelchair. I planed to go all the way from Romania to Beijing, China. Unfortunately I have a bad accident on the road and I was forced to return home after more then 3,500 km. from Volgograd, Russia. I tell to all my friends: "The most important is to trust yourself, be your self, respect yourself and keep it real. If you have a dream, follow your dream. Everything is possible!"
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