From Breakthrough to Bronze: The Story of a Paralympic Champion

Join us for an unforgettable and thought-provoking evening featuring Blake Haxton for our Social Justice Speaker Series. Blake will discuss his heroic journey to becoming a Paralympic champion. In March of 2009, Haxton was in his senior year of High School in Columbus, Ohio, when he contracted Necrotizing Fasciitis, more commonly called the flesh-eating disease. Over the course of three days, Blake went from being the captain of his school rowing team and a Division I college rowing recruit to suffering major organ failure and the amputation of both of his legs. Blake was released from the hospital after over twenty major surgeries and three months of inpatient care. Life-threatening medical complications notwithstanding, Blake enrolled at The Ohio State University the following fall and earned his B.S. in finance in 2013. Blake then enrolled at The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, earning a JD in 2016, and returned to the sport of rowing. Since then, Blake has made nine consecutive U.S. Rowing Teams, initially in the Arms and Shoulders single event, and later in Paracanoe. Blake’s international competition record includes the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, and the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France. Following the games in Rio, Blake’s fellow Olympic and Paralympic teammates and coaches voted him as the Male Athlete of the Year, making him the first-ever para-athlete to win the honor. This past September, Blake won the bronze medal in the Paracanoe at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, France. Blake briefly held the world record time in Paracanoe, which he achieved in the semi-final race (the record was broken in the final by the gold medalist). When not competing, Blake works as a Research Analyst at Brandywine Global Investment Management in Columbus, Ohio.  https://dayton.bibliocommons.com/events/67f8163ca92893579f3630da