Posted by Cubicle QB
Features on the Nov. 11 (7pm ET) edition of ESPN’s sports newsmagazine series E:60:
Dwyane Wade He’s the 2006 NBA Finals MVP, a four-time NBA All Star, and an Olympic gold medalist. But Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade’s proudest moment was this spring when he helped dedicate the church he bought for his mother, Pastor Jolinda Wade, in Chicago — the culmination of an emotional journey, watching his mother’s life turn around from the ruins of alcohol and drug abuse. Now sober for seven years, Jolinda Wade turned to drugs and alcohol following her divorce from Dwyane’s father, Dwyane, Sr., when Dwyane was just a child. The responsibility of caring for little Dwyane was left to his sister, Tragil, who was five years older. With the family struggling, Tragil made the ultimate move to save her brother, telling him that they were going to the movies and instead leaving him with their father who had offered to raise him. While Dwyane Wade developed into a top basketball player under his father’s guidance, his mother spiraled deeper into addiction. She was in and out of prison for using and selling drugs. One day, after failing to report for a work-release program, Jolinda Wade became a fugitive from the law. On Oct. 14, 2001, Jolinda’s life took a dramatic turn. Despite being high most of the time, she was still attending church and on that day, she says, the Lord spoke to her. Then in December 2001, she decided to turn herself in and return to prison. While in prison, Jolinda began a ministry and studied to become an ordained minister. E:60 correspondent Lisa Salters, sits down with Dwyane and his mother, Baptist pastor Jolinda Wade, to discuss their relationship.
Adam Bender Adam Bender is an 8-year-old boy who had cancer as an infant. The tumor, deep in his thigh, forced one of young Bender’s legs to be amputated when he was 1 year old. But the amputation has not stopped Bender from competing and excelling in sports — baseball (as a catcher), pee-wee football (as a quarterback), soccer and wrestling. In a national television exclusive, E:60’s Jeremy Schaap tells the story of a resilient youngster who overcame his disability.
D.J. Gregory D.J. Gregory may be living every golf fan’s dream. At 30 years old he has walked every hole, of every round, at every PGA Tour golf tournament this year. Born with cerebral palsy, Gregory’s long walk is an incredible challenge. His parents were told when he was a baby that he would never be able to walk, and they refused to accept it. After many surgeries, Gregory began crawling, then using a walker, and eventually just a cane. This year, as he walked the courses, not only was he living out his own dreams, but he was having a profound effect on all of the golfers he has met along the way. By the time D.J. Gregory’s journey came to an end Sunday, Nov. 9, he had walked more than 3,000 holes of golf, and well over 900 miles, a remarkable accomplishment for a man who was not supposed to know life outside of a wheelchair. E:60 followed Gregory throughout his journey, starting in Hawaii and ending at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic in Orlando, Fla., where many of the golfers that he walked with cheered him on as he walked his last hole. Tom Rinaldi reports.
Wing Suit Jeb Corliss has spent his life conquering his fears. As a child he was afraid of snakes and spiders, so he started catching them. As Corliss grew older, he sought out more extreme ways to court fear. By the age of 21, he turned to the extreme sport of BASE jumping. As a BASE jumper, he quickly became a legend, jumping from world landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge. Now at the age of 32, Corliss plans do the unthinkable — jump out of an aircraft, fly at speeds in excess of 100 mph, and land without using a parachute. Corliss says he will be wearing a wingsuit. Wingsuits have been around for decades, but earlier versions proved unreliable and dangerous. It wasn’t until the mid 1990s that French skydiver Patrick De Gayardon invented the modern-day version, flown by skydivers and BASE jumpers. Since then, the sport of wingsuiting has become extremely popular among aerial thrill seekers. E:60‘s Rachel Nichols takes a closer look at the dangerous sport of wingsuiting and one man’s obsession to do what people in the sport believe is impossible.
