The Walkabout Foundation

In the summer of 1994, Luis Gonzalez-Bunster suffered a car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Life presents itself with choices: to give up or to move forward. Young, healthy and fit, at 18 years of age Luis was not going to allow this new predicament to prevent him from leading a similar, if not identical, life to what he was accustomed to.

Just a few months after his accident, Luis moved to Florida and enrolled as a freshman at the University of Miami. Before we knew it, Luis was driving again, living on his own and traveling all over the world.

Today, Luis is running marathons on his Freedom Ryder handcycle, riding 800 kilometers across Europe, sky diving, and swimming up to 140 laps a day. Luis is living proof that leading a full life in a wheelchair is indeed possible.

However, after a trip to a YMCA in his hometown in Connecticut in late 2008 made Luis aware that he could not access the indoor swimming pool for lack of a ramp and/or elevator, Luis and his younger sister Carolina decided to take action.

Not only did they promote awareness of paralysis and disabilities in their community, but they also managed to make the local Greenwich, Connecticut YMCA accessible for one and all.

They turned their experience into an opportunity to create The Walkabout Foundation.