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By DENA
LEVITZ He has been
handicapped for the past 20 years and used a wheelchair for even
longer. Yet in his spare time, this University graduate enjoys sky
diving, hang gliding and rock climbing. Michael
McKeller, a 1987 graduate who was diagnosed with scoliosis in his
pre-teens and became handicapped after surgery, enjoys risk-taking
and extreme sports. His new documentary, "Extreme Mike,"
in which McKeller tries his hand at sky diving, premieres on PBS
tonight at 11. The
documentary is the first in a series which McKeller said will be a
fun, humorous look at him accomplishing extreme sports. "In my
series I do extreme sports, but that's not what the series is
about," he said. "Extreme sports are a vehicle I use to
illustrate the point of overcoming fear." In his videos,
McKeller takes viewers through his step-by-step technique of using
fear as a tool, rather than an obstacle. Before he even
reached his teens, McKeller was diagnosed with scoliosis, which
eventually put him in a wheelchair. At age 13, a steel rod was
surgically inserted to straighten his spine. But, on an
average Tuesday two weeks after the surgery, McKeller mysteriously
lost all movement in his arms and legs, leaving him handicapped, he
said. "I was
traumatized," he said. "But I realized pretty quickly that
the doctors or any other form of conventional medicine would not be
able to help me." Instead,
McKeller dedicated himself to recovering in order to live an
independent life. He even refused his family's help. "I
figured if they did the task for me in the short term, there would
be less pain, but more pain in the long term," McKeller said. Gradually this
tactic paid off, as McKeller relearned simple tasks. Attitude was
the key to his improvement, he said. "I used
to look in the mirror every single day and say to myself: 'Today is
a bad day, but it's better than yesterday and it's going to get
better tomorrow,' " McKeller said of the phrase which has
become his mantra. In the past 10
years, McKeller has ridden in a stunt plane, driven a wave runner
and gone shark fishing. Extreme sports allow him to push his
emotional and physical capabilities to the limit, he said. "The most
satisfaction you get out of life is to accomplish things people say
you can't do," said Mark McKeller, Mike's brother. "Mike
gets to do that all the time, so he has within him a confidence in
his intellectual and mental abilities that maybe some of us don't
understand." One year ago,
McKeller founded Extreme Mike Enterprises as a way to share with the
public the knowledge he had gained about conquering his fears. In addition to
the documentaries, there also is a Web site, (www.extrememike.com),
where McKeller speaks publicly about his experiences. "Extreme
Mike" was actually completed last summer, when McKeller
submitted the video to PBS. He said within only three months, PBS
executives contacted him about using the footage. Soon after,
Claes Nobel, of the Nobel Peace Prize family, endorsed the
documentary. Contact Information: Michael McKeller - mike@extrememike.com or Snail Mail us
at: About
Mike The
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