I am a racecar driver.
Former IndyCar racer and quadriplegic Sam Schmidt drove a modified racecar around the track during the 2014 Indianapolis 500 festivities, becoming the first person with quadriplegia to drive a racecar at high speed using integrated advanced electronics.
Arrow Electronics and its partners developed the technology that could change the automotive industry. Engineers modified the car—a 2014 Corvette C7 Stingray—with a human-to-machine interface so that Schmidt can drive it using only his head. It is known as the semi-autonomous motorcar, or SAM.
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SAM Car
William “Buddy” Marshall
Gretchen Evans
Krissy Esget
August O’Niell
John Smith
William “Buddy” Marshall
Branch: Navy
Rank: Lieutenant
SAM Car Destination: Virginia Beach, VA
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Gretchen Evans
Branch: Army
Rank: Command Sergeant Major (R)
SAM Car Destination: Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville, NC
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Krissy Esget
Branch: Coast Guard
Rank: Petty Officer 3rd Class
SAM Car Destination: Cape May, NJ
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August O’Niell
Branch: Air Force
Rank: Staff Sergent
SAM Car Destination: Washington, DC
Location: Currently stationed at Hurlburt Field Air Force Base
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John Smith
Branch: Marines
Rank: Corporal
SAM Car Destination: Arlington Cemetery, Arlington, VA
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During his second deployment to Iraq, Marine Corporal John Smith lost his right leg and the vision in his left eye during the first Battle of Fallujah on April 12, 2004. Cpl Smith, an Infantry rifleman, had just returned from conducting a sweep of the city with the 2nd Platoon, Echo Company, 2-1 Marines.
Trained as a yeoman in the Coast Guard, Kristin’s military career was cut all-too-short when she was hit as a pedestrian by a drunk driver and sustained a life-altering traumatic brain injury and permanent damage to her right knee.
August, a pararescueman, was sent to rescue a group of Marines pinned down in Afghanistan when enemy insurgents opened fire on his team’s helicopter. A round bounced off the helicopter’s door, tearing through both of his lower legs and critically wounding his left, resulting in 20 surgeries over the next three-and-a-half years as doctors tried to save the limb. August would go on to become the first Air Force Pararescueman to return to active duty.
A former Navy pilot, Buddy was injured when an individual under the influence of drugs, and being pursued by police, ran through a stop sign at 100 mph leaving two people dead and Buddy ventilator-dependent and paralyzed from the neck down.
After serving in the Army for more than 27 years, Gretchen was injured during a combat deployment to Afghanistan. A blast from a rocket resulted in Gretchen losing all hearing, suffering from a traumatic brain injury and other internal injuries.
Are you thinking Five Years Out?