At age six, Chuck Aoki was diagnosed with hereditary sensory autonomic neuropathy, a rare genetic disorder that numbed all of his senses from the elbows to fingertips and knees to feet.
At age ten, he was wheelchair-bound after sustaining too many injuries to his hands and legs.
At age 15, he saw “Murderball,” a movie that changed his perspective about what he could still achieve and what opportunities were available for people like him.
At age 21, he competed with Team USA at the Paralympics for the first time in London and won his first of three silver medals. He made the team again in 2016, 2020 and 2024, bringing home two more silvers and a bronze.
Aoki, four-time Paralympic medalist and co-captain of Team USA, discussed his experience with wheelchair rugby, aka murderball, with students for the annual McCord lecture, explaining how the sport has shaped his life.
Wheelchair rugby is the only Paralympic sport requiring impairment in all four limbs; however, impairment can be in varying degrees. After playing wheelchair basketball for a few years, breaking his fingers and having most of them amputated, Aoki made the switch to rugby.
He said that through his experiences with wheelchair basketball and rugby, he learned everyone will always have challenges to face and overcome.
“There’s always going to be things that are frustrating, that get in the way, that upset us, that we don’t want to have to deal with,” Aoki said. “But we also have the choice to reframe those challenges, a choice to look at them differently and approach them from another angle.”
Though Aoki was excited when he began playing wheelchair rugby, he said his mother was a bit more apprehensive. Aoki said it was her actions that taught him another important life lesson.
“She [Aoki’s mother] was bold by stepping back,” Aoki said. “We have this ability to be bold in so many different ways. You can be active in it, but it’s also something you can be very passive about.”
As Aoki spoke about his experience with the sport and the lessons he learned that apply to life off the court, he emphasized slowing down to go fast. The athletes on the team have varying degrees of disability. As a result, the players with more mobility must slow down to support the others, according to Aoki.
Elannore Bester, a senior art history major, found this part of the talk particularly relatable to her life.
“Especially in today’s world, it seems like everything is going at 100 miles an hour,” Bester said. “You have to be on top of it at all times, but sometimes it’s best to just take a breath and slow down and trust things will work themselves out.”
Bester also said she found Aoki’s talk to be very insightful.
“Leadership is like this buzzword that you hear talked about all the time and everyone tells you that you should be better at it, but it’s kind of hard to nail down how to do it,” Bester said. “It seems like Chuck kept going back to support and finding opportunities and being positive about things.”
Senior graphic design major Nasaria Esparza also said “Murderball” was an eye-opening movie to watch.
“One part that definitely stuck out to me was when one of the people in the film was given a card, and he couldn’t get it open [he had been in a dirt bike accident],” Esparza said. “It’s something I would never think twice about. I thought that was very raw and very real.”
Aoki acknowledged that many of the opportunities he has been given would not have been an option if he was able to lead a so-called “normal” life.
“I’ve accomplished vastly more being in a wheelchair than I ever would have even dreamed of able-bodied,” Aoki said.
Aoki plans to continue his journey with wheelchair rugby and try out for the 2028 Paralympic USA team.