Permanent Victory with Joe Delagrave

At 19, college football player Joe Delagrave walked with an air of invincibility. On June 10, 2004, a casual boating trip with friends along the Mississippi River quickly escalated into his worst nightmare- an accident that left him with a spinal cord injury. Now paralyzed, Joe’s mind was consumed with swirling questions about love, intimacy and adapting to everyday tasks.

With the intervention of his friends, Joe finally hit the ‘reset’ button. His unlikely encounter with wheelchair rugby sealed his fate, refueling his competitive appetite. A steady course saw Joe’s impressive rise to the 2008 US Men’s Paralympics team. Joe details his winding road to the 2012 Paralympics and 2018 World Championships, and how his identity became trapped in the sport. Joe realigned his priorities by shifting gears to a mentorship role. The US Rugby Wheelchair coach, speaker, Master’s graduate in Professional Counselling, husband and father of three also talks about finding “permanent victory” by planting seeds.