LOS ANGELES — For Michael Garafola, life changed in a heartbeat. A car crash at age 15 left him with a broken spine and shattered dreams.
“I was actually in a car accident when I was 15 years old. I was a sophomore in high school… I broke my back basically,” Garafola said, reflecting on the moment that altered the course of his life.
For over a decade, Garafola watched from the sidelines as years slipped away and dreams faded. Then, 13 years after the accident, he found his way back to sports through wheelchair football.
“I went 13 years without playing adaptive sports, and I call that kind of like my rebirth,” he said.
But playing adaptive sports isn't always easy. Wheelchair football presents challenges beyond the physical, with financial barriers that can be just as daunting.
“Each piece of equipment is thousands and thousands of dollars,” Garafola said.
Those barriers, however, were recently broken. The Los Angeles Rams, in partnership with Angel City Sports and the Hartford, provided custom-made wheelchairs to the Rams’ wheelchair football team, offering more than just equipment — they provided hope.
“Just to be able to provide this team with the resources that they need to compete on the field and enrich their lives means the world to us,” said Molly Higgins, the Rams' executive vice president of community impact.
Angel City Sports, which has reached 24,000 athletes with gear and programs aimed at people of all ages and abilities, continues to expand its efforts. With the 2028 Olympics on the horizon, co-founder Clayton Frech sees even greater opportunities ahead.
“We've got this opportunity to literally touch thousands, tens of thousands of people. And so, yeah, I'm proud of where we've come, but I'm equally excited about where we're going,” Frech said.
For Garafola, the donation is a testament to resilience and community support. He says proof that when you push and fight with everything you have, there are people willing to help lift you higher.
“Sport is for everyone, and there should be no one sitting on the sidelines,” Garafola said.
Sometimes, providing the means can be enough to ignite a dream.