For months after the accident, Steve Emt was lying to people – including himself.
In March 1995, Emt was driving on I-84 northeast of Hartford, Connecticut, when he crashed his car. Emt was driving drunk. Only 25 years old, Emt woke up the next day and was told he would never leave again.
He was paralyzed from the waist down.
“Six months after my crash. I was lying to myself. I told everyone the deer ran in front of me,” said Emt. “I didn’t want to be a drunk driver, I didn’t want all the kids in my neighborhood, all the people who love me all over the country, I didn’t want them to look at me like a drunk driver. But I wasn’t cool.
Emt had been an athlete all his life. As a senior at RHAM High School, he played basketball and averaged 27 points per game, leading his team to the state semifinals. His activities caught the attention of the US Military Academy, where he was recruited to participate.
Emt spent a year in the Army before a shocking tragedy set him on a different path. When he was 19, his father died suddenly of a heart attack. Frustrated, Emt transferred to the University of Connecticut to be closer to home.
He eventually moved on to the UConn basketball team, playing for legendary coach Jim Calhoun.
“On my first day at school, [Calhoun] he pulled me into his office, and there was no mention of basketball.” He said: ‘Steve, I lost my father when I was young. We found the same. I want you to know that I’m here to help you with anything you need.’”
Emt played two games for the Huskies during the 1993-94 season. Then, one mistake seemed to end his athletic career and left Emt in disgrace.
About half a year after his terrible crash, Emt was contacted by a journalist who wanted to tell his real story, a moment that forced him to face the truth. He agreed to be interviewed, a weight was lifted from his chest.
Emt embraced the label “drunk driver” and put it to good use. He began traveling the country, speaking at high schools and warning young people about the dangers of the mistake he had made.
For many people, this would be the end of the story. An athlete who makes a bad mistake and then uses that mistake to prevent other people from repeating his failure.
For Emt, it was just the beginning.
17 years after the accident, Emt, now in a wheelchair, was thinking about himself in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, when he was approached by an elderly gentleman.
“He says, ‘Excuse me, are you there?'” Emt recalled. Emt told the old man that he lived two hours away in Connecticut and asked why he wanted to know.
“Well, I train with the Paralympic throwing team here on Cape Cod, and I saw you climb the hill back there,” the man said. “And with your build, I can make you an Olympian for a year.”
The man was Tony Colacchio, a former curler who was president of the Cape Cod Curling Club. Colacchio was trying to promote the growth of wheelchair curling.
There was only one problem with Emt.
“I heard ‘Olympics,’ and being an athlete, I’m like, ‘Let’s go,'” he said. “But I say, ‘What’s wrong with wrapping?’ I didn’t know what this game was.”
Excited for the chance to compete again, Emt learned to curl as soon as he got home from Cape Town. He began balancing his day job as a teacher with training. He would leave his class at 3pm on Fridays, head to Massachusetts and spend the weekend practicing, not returning home until midnight on Sunday.
At first, learning a new sport was a big change.
“It was very frustrating, because I went from playing basketball with a group of future NBA players, talking bad, people drowning and bumping heads,” said Emt. “Curling is a complete 180. We shake hands before we play. There’s no smack to talk about.”
However, this practice had positive results. In 2015, Emt represented the United States at the world championships, an event he has already appeared in eight times.
In 2018, he competed in the Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, and again in 2022 in Beijing.
Emt is now competing in the Milan Cortina Games. She and her partner, Laura Dwyer, won two of their first three matches as they aim for their first Paralympic medal.
Emt thought he would never compete again after his accident. His head was full of dark and bad thoughts as he recovered in his hospital room, wondering if he would ever get over the depression that had consumed him. There were times, he admitted, he didn’t want to be there anymore.
Now, at 56, Emt isn’t just competing. He hopes to still be able to bend when the Paralympics come to Utah in 2034 – and serve as an inspiration to other disabled people.
“I love everything about wearing colors, wearing a sweater,” she said.
He added: “In my opinion, the two greatest honors in an American’s life are to fight for his country and to be an athlete for his country, and I’ve done both, so I’m in a very happy place right now. Life is good.”
