'I fell in love with it': Wheelchair rugby storms Grand Rapids

This weekend delivered quite the thrill in the return of Thunderfest, a wheelchair rugby tournament tailored to athletes with upper and lower body disabilities.

Six teams from across the country and Canada battled it out in this two day tournament. Everyone came ready to play, especially head coach and player Nick Long.

“The biggest thing to know is it's a full contact sport," Long said. "We can run into each other at full speed.”

There are 4 players per team on the court at a time. Each player rolls around the court in a customized, heavy-duty sports chair.

“It's played by individuals with some deficit in all 4 limbs,” Long said.

Prior to the tournament, the players are all given a classification based on their function. The lowest function is 0.5 and the highest function is 3.5. Of the 4 players on the court at a time, their classifications cannot add up to more than a total of 8 points to keep teams from playing their highest functioning players all at once.

Long has coached the Grand Rapids Thunder for over a decade, following his diving accident twenty-three years ago that changed his life forever. “I’m considered a quadriplegic," Long said. "I have paralysis from the upper shoulders down.”

Long wasn't going to let paralysis slow him down. Immediately following his accident, Long was introduced to wheelchair rugby. “It really is designed for quads so it fits well for my injury, and I fell in love with it right away,” Long said.

Now, Long is the founder of two businesses, Neuro Care Home Health and Fusion Medical Supplies, aimed to help others like him. “I recognize that I have a unique perspective on understanding what people's needs are,” Long said.

With over two decades invested in wheelchair rugby, Long said it's a big reason why he has the strength to keep pushing forward.

“It’s made a big impact in my life," Long said. "And I think there's an opportunity to make a difference in other people's lives. Maybe two years down the road if somebody else has a diving accident, they can get introduced to rugby, and it can make an impact in their life.”

The Grand Rapids Thunder is sponsored by Mary Free Bed Wheelchair and Adaptive Sports, one of the nation's largest programs of it's kind.

For more information on Neuro Care Home Health, click here.

For more information on Fusion Medical, click here.

Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube