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‘A lifesaver’: Godfrey’s Eric Newby set for Tokyo Paralympics
GODFREY — The Newby family blends in very well on evening journeys around its Godfrey subdivision. Just a young couple with their baby daughter, who’s in a stroller relaxing.
But there’s one thing a bit different about the idyllic scene. Eric Newby is in a wheelchair. And not just any wheelchair, but a the 40-pound kind used in competitions such as racing and wheelchair basketball.
Newby, 33, of Godfrey, is finishing up his last stages of training for the United States Wheelchair Rugby Team which will take part in the Tokyo Paralympics, which are set to get under way in late August.
“We leave in six days,” Newby said Wednesday by phone from Birmingham, Alabama, where he and the rest of the team are training. “The team is looking very strong. Training is going really well.”
Newby, who was born in Alton, lives in Godfrey with his young family. As a youth, he moved with his family to Nashville, Illinois and graduated from Nashville High School. He attended Maryville University in St. Louis. He still had family in the Godfrey/Alton area and he and his wife, Megan, settled there. He previously also lived in Colorado, which is where is employer is based.
His job doing community outreach for Mobility of Denver allows him to work from home – or from Biremingham, Alabama if need be.