Meet Adaptive Athlete: Trevor Cowlishaw

Growing up as an outdoor kid in Salt Lake City, Trevor found a lot to keep him busy. He found passions in snowboarding, skateboarding, and rollerblading, along with finding stuff to do with his older and younger brothers. His family left Utah when he was 15 and went to Tacoma, Washington, where he graduated in 1996. His first years after high school were spent on the mountains, working during the nights and skiing all day. He enjoyed the ability to spend so much time doing something he loved.

Trevor made the decision to enlist in the Marine Corps in 1998, after trying to find his next steps in life. He was looking forward to getting out and seeing what the world had to offer. His boot camp was at Miramar Base in San Diego, and he ended up specializing as a Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanic. His first deployment was in Okinawa, Japan, where he celebrated the 2000 Millennium. His role there was mainly to ensure the air conditioner systems on the communication trucks were running smoothly and keeping the computers from overheating.

After getting out of the Marine Corps in 2001, Trevor moved back to Washington and started working. He had a few jobs, including painting Bill Gates’ house, ski lift operator, and construction, before deciding to go to school to become a truck driver. He got his license and started driving.

In the meantime, Trevor was doing extreme mountain biking when a friend got him into paragliding. After his first flight, he fell in love and started pursuing the sport. He started spending more and more of his free time paragliding. He started working toward a goal of wrapping things up with trucking and focusing full time on coaching paragliding.

In November of 2016, Trevor began experiencing a funny feeling in his leg, but ignored it. A few days later his lower leg stopped working, and then slowly his condition worsened. By November 21st he was one hundred percent paralyzed with a breathing tube. It took doctors five days to diagnose him with Spinal Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), a rare, abnormal tangle of blood vessels on or near the spinal cord affecting his C1 and C2 vertebrae.

By New Years, Trevor had control from his bellybutton up again. He struggles to control his legs, but he self-admittedly is too stubborn for a wheelchair. He prefers to walk with two poles, however he struggles a lot with balance and tripping. After two years of physical therapy and not being pushed very hard, Trevor spent the past two years focusing on being active, mainly through disc golf and traveling around the country.

For the next nine weeks, Trevor wants to work on his balance, which will allow him to improve many aspects of his life. Trevor is a positive person who wants to be pushed and challenged to find his next steps. After taking this time to focus on himself, he wants to find ways to encourage others on their journeys.