Wamplers share disability awareness message

Mar. 3—Elizabeth and Stephen Wampler, wife-and-husband and founders of The Stephen J. Wampler Foundation and Camp Wamp, spoke about disability awareness during the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce's Rooster Booster breakfast Thursday at the Owensboro Convention Center.

Raised in California, Stephen Wampler has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair. He found a love for the outdoors during his youth and attended a wilderness summer camp for children with disabilities every summer from the age of 9 until he was 18, which inspired him to create his own camp.

Eventually, Wampler quit his job as an environmental engineer and started the foundation in 2002. He opened Camp Wamp in 2004 with Elizabeth Wampler.

The purpose of the camp and what the Wamplers do is to demonstrate failure is not an option and to have people "discover how capable they really are."

"People with profound disabilities, any type of disability, still have a lot left to who they are," Elizabeth Wampler said.

And Stephen Wampler has been living proof of that.

In 2010, he became the first person with cerebral palsy to climb El Capitan in Yosemite National Park, a vertical slab of rock that has been described as "twice the height of the Empire State Building." The climb stretched over a six-day period and required 20,000 pull-ups to complete, with Wampler proving that "anything is possible."

The Wamplers shared their journey through a question-and-answer session between each other during Thursday's event.

When Elizabeth Wampler asked Stephen Wampler how her comfort level was when they first met on a scale of one to 10, Stephen Wampler responded: "45."

"I was the most awkward person he's ever met," she said. "I made a ton of assumptions about his disability; and I thought he was sad, I didn't know if he was in pain — I didn't know enough about him."

But what broke the tension, Stephen Wampler said, was Elizabeth Wampler asking questions — which he encourages people to do when meeting him.

"Be curious, be brave, go out on a limb and ask," he said. "... I don't care what they ask as long as they ask and get to know who I am."

And while the phrase "your disability does not define you" is commonly heard, Stephen Wampler feels differently.

"Yes it does, because you can't just describe me without it ... (and) I'm fine with it," he said. "That's who I am."

"... Of the million things I've learned, if a thousand people were to connect with Stephen, have a conversation on the street, go on their merry way ..., almost a thousand of those people would go home, and if he came up in conversation they would say: 'He's a super cool guy in a wheelchair,' in the same way that somebody with a really long beard or very, very long hair is described," Elizabeth Wampler said.

"Our approach, and what I've learned from him, is that the point-blank, direct truth about the fact that he has a disability has been what alleviates and what eliminates the barrier — the social wedge between people who do and don't have a disability."

Wendell Foster sponsored the breakfast in honor of March being National Disability Awareness Month.

"This month shines a light on what we do every single day — supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities in all areas of community life," said Beth Shepherd, chief financial and administrative officer for Wendell Foster.

Additionally, Shepherd spoke about the Wendell Foster Half Marathon & 5K, which is set for March 23, 2024, and the introduction of the "Steps Division" program.

"Steps Division" will serve as a way for people with disabilities to participate in the event by completing either distance over the course of a year by recording their steps leading up to race day.

Participants will then be able to take their final steps across the finish line on event day and receive a medal upon completion.

"We're taking very important steps toward something greater, so that people of all abilities are able to cross the finish line with us," Shepherd said.

Sign-up for the race can be completed at wendellfoster.org/halfmarathon.

For more information on The Stephen J. Wampler Foundation and Camp Wamp, visit stephenjwamplerfoundation.org.

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