3 tour Vietnam Veteran chooses victory over disability

Francisco Lopez-de-Victoria, 63, was forced to use a wheelchair after a 2000 back surgery went awry. The Navy retiree, who, served three tours in Vietnam and in Grenada, recently won two medals at the 28th Wheelchair Veterans Games in Omaha, Neb.

Veteran chooses victory over disability
By Jackie Alexander, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, August 29, 2008


Sometimes just getting out the door is hard for Francisco Lopez-de-Victoria. His red wheelchair often gets wedged in the narrow frame of his apartment's front door. • "It's almost like jumping a hurdle every morning," the 63-year-old said.

It's a marked change from his earlier life in which he spent more than 25 years in the Navy and played softball internationally.

A simple back procedure in 2000 left him having to use a wheelchair. Now, grass is treacherous. Curbs are insurmountable.

He spent hours in his native Puerto Rico underneath a mango tree, counting crawling ants and slowly trekking the path toward insanity, said his wife, Nereida.

But then his nephew rescued him by introducing him to the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, Lopez-de-Victoria said.

The first year he took gold in each sport he played: table tennis, bowling, archery, shot put and weightlifting.

"If it wasn't for the games, I don't know," his wife said. "I think the games are what kept him sane."

Lopez-de-Victoria of Clearwater competed in his fifth National Veterans Wheelchair Games in late July, collecting a gold medal in archery and bronze in bowling.
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