Quad rugby player talks about overcoming disability at Southeast

Kerri Morgan was born with impaired movement from her chest down.

But when she was only 1 year old, a virus attacked her spinal cord, leaving her disabled, though not totally paralyzed, for the rest of her life.

"I ... tell people that this is just kind of normal to me," Morgan said in a phone interview Friday. "I don't know any better."

Not knowing any better, Morgan refused to let her disability keep her from living a full life. She works as an occupational therapist on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis, and she'll soon get her doctorate in that discipline. She's also an acclaimed player of quad rugby, a wheelchair sport formerly known as murderball.

On Tuesday, Morgan will speak at Southeast Missouri State University at 7 p.m. in Crisp Hall room 125, where she'll talk about her life and overcoming disability.

Morgan's talk is presented by the Regional Heritage Series, a series of speaking engagements sponsored by the university's speech and debate team.

Holly Rehder, spokeswoman for the university student group, said Morgan was a good choice to bring in because of her inspirational story.

The 33-year-old Morgan began playing quad rugby, short for quadriplegic rugby, about six years ago. The sport is played indoors by people in wheelchairs and is a combination of many sports. The basic premise is two teams compete, trying to get a ball in a goal to score points. The sport was the subject of the 2005 Oscar-nominated documentary "Murderball."

While most people think of quadriplegics as people who can't use their limbs, there are actually varying degrees, Morgan said. For the purpose of the sport, Morgan said people with minimal movement in their upper body can play, but players' movement is ranked on a point system. Players with more movements are rated at a higher point level, and each team is limited to the same amount of cumulative points among team members.

Morgan is a 2.0 on an 8 point scale.

This month Morgan will try out for the U.S. Olympic quad rugby team, which will compete in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing immediately following the Olympic Games.

Morgan speaks at several events each year, delivering her message of doing what you want to do despite obstacles like those she's faced. She'll bring that same message to Southeast on Tuesday, using her experience playing quad rugby as an avenue to transmit that message.

"I feel like I can pretty much do anything," Morgan said.

Despite having limited movement from the chest down and being confined to a wheelchair, Morgan drives a car and lives on her own in a St. Louis loft.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182