Team USA’s Kevan Hueftle, proof that comeback is a decision, not a moment.
By Rick Bontkowski
In early March, the world will turn its eyes to Italy as the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games open on March 6, 2026, and run through March 15. Over ten days, the best winter Para athletes on earth will compete across six sports and 79 medal events, carving speed and precision into snow, ice, and mountain air.
There is a certain kind of silence that happens right before a start. The crowd settles. A breath hangs in the cold. Then the moment arrives, and everything becomes motion, edges biting into ice, bodies and equipment tuned to the exact same purpose. That is the Paralympic spirit in its purest form. It is not a slogan. It is excellence, earned, measured, and witnessed.
The Paralympics are often described as inspiring, but that word can sometimes feel too small. What the Games really represent is opportunity made real. They represent what happens when access, innovation, training, and sheer willpower meet at the highest level of sport. They challenge the world’s assumptions about ability, not with speeches, but with performance. The kind that leaves no doubt.
That is why the story of Kevan “Flea” Hueftle lands with such force when we talk about the heart of the Paralympic movement. Kevan is a U.S. Paralympic-level track athlete, rancher, and father whose life pivoted after a hunting accident in 2005 led to a below-the-knee amputation of his left leg. The aftermath was not clean or cinematic. It was pain, loss, and a long fight with alcoholism and the mental weight that often follows trauma. But his story is not defined by the fall. It is defined by the climb. Kevan chose recovery. He chose the grind. He chose to rebuild a life that could hold both truth and ambition, and he went on to compete at an elite level in Para track and field.
When he joined me on The AMP’D UP211 Podcast, he did not offer a polished narrative. He offered the real one. The nights when it is easier to numb out. The mornings when discipline feels like the only lifeline. The slow return to purpose, one decision at a time.
As the Paralympics arrive this March, Kevan’s journey reminds us what these Games truly stand for. Not perfection. Perseverance. If you want the human side of the Paralympic spirit, start with Flea’s episode, and share it with someone who needs a reason to keep going.
Rick Bontkowski, a Chicago native and amputee, is the host creator of The AMP’D UP211 Podcast. A drummer, cyclist, and advocate, Rick shares the stories of people with limb differences to inspire, inform, and challenge perceptions worldwide. Contact info: Ampup211@gmail.com, ampup211.com, youtube.com/@theampdup211podcast6, instagram.com/rick_bontkowski.
{Discover additional stories from Rick’s podcast on our website at thespringsmagazine.com/category/health-wellness/ampd-up211/.}
