Renowned Wheelchair Racer Kenny Herriot to Speak at Cage Center

Berry College will welcome Kenny Herriot, one of the world’s leading wheelchair athletes, to campus Wednesday, Jan. 28, for a 7:30 p.m. presentation in the Steven J. Cage Athletic and Recreation Center. The event is free and open to the public. Herriot will be speaking about his personal triumphs and also about his latest endeavor, “The Great Lemon Ride.”

“Kenny is a great inspirational speaker and motivator,” said Dr. Robert Pearson, professor and department chair of kinesiology. “He is determined to have a giving heart and serving hands – two of the values Berry teaches.”

After a motorcycle accident in 2000 left him paralyzed from the waist down, the former fitness teacher, boxer and manager was determined to rise above his condition.

“I have always been motivated, and that didn’t change after the accident,” Herriot said. “The only way forward was in a wheelchair. It was quite an accident getting into a racing chair.”

Herriot began wheelchair racing in 2001 as a way to continue his active lifestyle. In the eight years he’s been racing, he has become a top competitor in his sport. He trains six days a week – lately in Rome and Northwest Georgia.

His own story has inspired Herriot to participate in “The Great Lemon Ride,” a cycling challenge across America that benefits Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Founded in 2000 by a 4-year-old cancer patient, Alex’s Lemonade Stand is a non-profit dedicated to funding research to find a cure for childhood cancer.

“Of several charities, Alex’s stood out more than the others,” said Herriot. “I have two boys, and I can’t imagine going through what Alex and her family went through. The more I train and think about this ride, I realize, ‘wow, this thing is big.’”

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