{"id":35136,"date":"2009-09-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2009\/09\/14\/splish-splashin-for-a-good-cause\/"},"modified":"2009-09-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-09-14T05:00:00","slug":"splish-splashin-for-a-good-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2009\/09\/14\/splish-splashin-for-a-good-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Splish splashin&#8217; for a good cause"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\"><p><TABLE border=\"0\" width=\"360\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"3\" align=\"right\"><br \/>\n<TR><br \/>\n<TD><br \/>\n<TABLE border=\"1\" width=\"350\" cellspacing=\"1\" cellpadding=\"5\" bgcolor=\"B1D1E2\"><br \/>\n<TR><br \/>\n<TD><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\n<font face=\"arial\"><br \/>\n<B><br \/>\nPool parties!<br \/>\n<\/B><br \/>\n<BR><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\n<font face=\"arial\" size=\"2\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" align=\"center\" src=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/slideShow\/index.gne?group_id=&#038;user_id=8414512@N05&#038;set_id=72157622330128824&#038;tags=Cars,Lotus,Exige\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"350\" height=\"325\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<BR><br \/>\n<B>Above is a photo slide show from the recent Big Splash event, which promoted inclusion and awareness of those with disabilities and raised nearly $32,000 for UNMC&#8217;s Munroe-Meyer Institute in the process. Double click on the images to see more. (Photos by Joe Brym)<\/B><br \/>\n<\/P><br \/>\n<\/FONT><br \/>\n<\/TD><br \/>\n<\/TR><br \/>\n<\/TABLE><br \/>\n<\/TD><br \/>\n<\/TR><br \/>\n<\/TABLE>There are things that 10-year-old Paul Retheferd can&#8217;t do. He can&#8217;t hear, he can&#8217;t see and because of a chromosomal abnormality and cerebral palsy, his mobility is limited.<\/p>\n<p>None of that mattered at a recent Omaha event, which focused on the things Retheferd can do.<\/p>\n<p>The first Big Splash event brought together swimmers of all ages and abilities on Aug. 28 and 29 to promote inclusion and awareness of those with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>In total, the event, organized by the University of Nebraska Foundation, raised nearly $32,000 to expand services and programs for individuals with disabilities at UNMC&#8217;s Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI).<\/p>\n<p><B>Event presents rare opportunities<\/B><\/p>\n<p>For Retheferd, who attends JP Lord, MMI&#8217;s Adopt-a-School, the Big Splash offered a never-before opportunity: to swim.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He really liked it,&#8221; said his foster mother, Deb Johnson. &#8220;For the first time, he could get in the water and be like everybody else for a change.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><B>Gold medalist lends support to event<\/B><\/p>\n<p>The Johnsons and their other children were at Westside High School on Saturday, Aug. 29 to cheer Retheford on. Also in attendance was Olympic swimmer <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joshdavis.com\" target=\"_blanK\" rel=\"noopener\">Josh Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 1996, Davis won three gold medals at the Olympic Games in Atlanta. In Sydney in 2000, he won two silver medals and set the American record in the 200 meter free-style. It was a mark he held until a guy named Michael Phelps came along and broke it.<\/p>\n<p><B>Davis: &#8220;Do your best&#8221;<\/B><\/p>\n<p>Davis, who has an 11-year-old son with autism, gave an inspirational speech before the Big Splash.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Always do your best and everything will work out just fine,&#8221; Davis told the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>He should know. When he started swimming at age 13, his coach said Davis wasn&#8217;t very good and should switch sports. Davis switched coaches instead. <\/p>\n<p>At 15, he was the best swimmer in Texas and at 17 he was the best in the nation. <\/p>\n<p>While his gold medals are nice to look at, he&#8217;s truly most proud of 2000 performance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s when I swam my fastest, my personal best,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When you develop your gifts, you make your life better and the world a better place. It&#8217;s the best feeling in the world and I think it&#8217;s just what the Big Splash has done.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><B>Event emblematic of MMI mission<\/B><\/p>\n<p>MMI Director Mike Leibowitz, Ph.D., said the Big Splash epitomized the institute&#8217;s mission.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;MMI is all about children with disabilities being part of the community and helping them to achieve everything they can achieve,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The Big Splash made those ideals a reality.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whenever an individual with a disability finished swimming a race during the Big Splash, cheers from the audience erupted that would give a snowman chills and Davis was there to greet some of them with ribbons.<\/p>\n<p>On Retheferd&#8217;s ribbon, Davis wrote: &#8220;To Paul: Swim great, smile big and never give up!&#8221;<\/p>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"\/secure-location.php\" style=\"display: none;\" title=\"DeVWgqAVQgY sY\"><\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are things that 10-year-old Paul Retheferd can&#8217;t do. He can&#8217;t hear, he can&#8217;t see and because of a chromosomal abnormality and cerebral palsy, his mobility is limited.<br \/>\nNone of that mattered at a recent Omaha event, which focused on the things Retheferd can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Splish splashin&#039; for a good cause<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are things that 10-year-old Paul Retheferd can&#039;t do. 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