Randy Snow may have lost the use of his legs, but he stood tall as a man and an athlete.
The powerhouse Paralympian, who medaled in three different sports in three different Paralympics and won 16 U.S. Tennis Open titles, died of a heart attack Nov. 19, 2009, while teaching a tennis clinic in El Salvador. He was 50.
Since then, the tributes have poured in from competitors, fans, friends and students. Some 1,600 people appear on his Facebook memorial page, and it took the 1,500-seat Terrell (Texas) ISD Performing Arts Center to hold all those who attended his memorial service on Dec. 5.
The man with the big smile, the big personality and the big talent has left a big hole in the Paralympian world.
"Randy was one of the most influential athlete leaders in the Paralympic movement and in 2004, he was honored as the first Paralympian athlete to be inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame," noted Marilyn Hamilton, who met Snow in 1980. "He was an icon."
He was also an athlete who, as an Ambassador, helped put Longmont, Colo.-based Sunrise Medical on the map.
"We are missing him very much," said Rachel Kline, who heads the Ambassador program for Sunrise. "He was with the company [over 20] years. It's a very big loss for Sunrise. He was synonymous with Quickie."
It was Quickie founder Hamilton who instigated that role. From their first meeting, she recognized Snow's talent and charisma. At the time, she recalled, she was manufacturing Quickie wheelchairs with two friends (Sunrise would acquire the brand in 1986).
The chair was revolutionary; it had a modular frame, was totally adjustable and reflected a sense of fun. It was a perfect match for the energetic Snow.
With his Quickie, he traveled the world, accumulating trophies and Paralympic gold medals in tennis, basketball and racing. But for Snow, it wasn't all about winning. It was about passing something on — a sense of hope, a sense of achievement. He and Hamilton created a Quickie Sports Series with Randy Snow Tennis Camps.
"Beginners and experts of all ages came away with new skills, new friends and new inspiration," Hamilton said. "And kids came away with a new super-hero giving them hope."
Snow started his own motivational company in 1999. He called it NOXQS, "no excuses." He became a Fortune 500 speaker, wrote several books, aspired to be a college professior and challenged listeners with such statements as "Change is inevitable; direction is choice," and "Life takes a 100-percent, able-bodied mind to succeed."
He won accolades from four presidents — Ford, Reagan, Bush (Sr.) and Clinton — and earned a master's degree in psychology. And everywhere he went, Randy Snow gathered friends.
"He wanted to make a difference," said his father Tom Snow.
He did.
