Keith Gabel

Grizzly (Instagram profile, 20 Nov 2020; Athlete, 10 Feb 2018)

Hiking, mountain biking, dirt bikes, fishing, camping, travel, boating, wakeboarding, playing the drums, baking, cooking. (Facebook page, 20 Jan 2019; Athlete, 10 Feb 2018)

His father and his stepmother. (teamusa.org, 01 Feb 2017)

US snowboarders Jeremy Jones and Travis Rice. (Athlete, 10 Feb 2018)

He tore a groin muscle and separated his shoulder at the end of the 2012/13 season and spent the following off-season in recovery. (keithgabel.com, 02 May 2012)

He broke several ribs in February 2012. (keithgabel.com, 02 May 2012)

"The power of positivity will always persevere." (Athlete, 10 Feb 2018)

In 2014 he was presented with a History-Maker Award by the state of Utah in the United States of America. (Athlete, 10 Feb 2018)

His wife Heather Gabel [nee Short] has worked as a gymnastics coach at Red Brick Center in Aspen, CO, United States of America. (rfweeklyjournal.com, 23 Jan 2020; Heather Roqueza Gabel Facebook profile, 20 Jul 2019)

To compete at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. (aspentimes.com, 25 Dec 2018)

In 2005 an industrial accident resulted in his foot being crushed by more than 2000 pounds of hydraulic pressure for over 15 minutes. Following four blood transfusions, a blood clot in his left lung and multiple operations, his left leg was amputated below the knee. "If you would've told me, that first day [of being impaired] would turn into me winning the X Games [in 2015], me going to Sochi [in 2014] and competing in the Paralympics, I would've probably laughed in your face. Losing my leg was one of the worst things that ever happened to me. But it was also one of the best. You would never know how strong you are, what you're capable of until you're put through that circumstance. The quality of my life is better in all respects." (Vita Brevis Films YouTube channel, 07 Mar 2016; Athlete, 20 Nov 2013)

TATTOO
He has a tattoo on his right leg of a band of stitches that makes it look as if his leg has been cut off and sewn back on. "Ironically, I actually got this tattoo a few years before I lost my other leg. My amputation is about an inch lower than the placement of the tattoo but on my left leg. The meaning of this tattoo is that it doesn't matter what happens to me, you could cut my leg off and I'll still bounce back. I guess the universe wanted me to put my money where my mouth was." (teamusa.org, 14 Jun 2013)

OCCUPATION
He works as a programme manager for the Semper Fi Fund, a non-profit organisation that offers assistance and rehabilitation programmes to wounded US combat veterans. Prior to his accident, he operated heavy machinery for an oil and gas drilling and exploration company headquartered in Denison, TX, United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2020; Vita Brevis Films YouTube channel, 07 Mar 2016; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2020)

CHARITY WORK
He has served as an ambassador for Team for Tomorrow, a community outreach programme in the United States of America. "I love doing this kind of stuff because I'm a product of community outreach programmes. When I lived with my mother in Oregon, we were super poor. We ate at soup kitchens, we were in and out of homeless shelters. I even stood in line with my mother for days on end during Christmas time for [US Marine Corps charity programme] Toys for Tots just so my siblings could get a decent present. So to be able to give back to the community is an honour for me." (highfivesfoundation.org, 29 Jan 2015; athletego.com, 09 Oct 2013)